LIBRARY 
[TY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


Young  Watt  absorbed  with  his  Problems. 


P.  16. 


THE 


TRIUMPHS    OF   STEAM; 


OR, 


STORIES      FROM     THE     LIVES 


WATT,    ARKWRIGHT,    AND    STEPHENSON. 


BY    THE   AUTHOR    OF 

'MIGHT   NOT   RIGHT/    'OUR  EASTERN   EMPIRE,'    'THt   MARTYR 
LAND,'   ETC.    ETC. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS   BY  JOHN  GILBERT. 


NEW    YORK: 

THOMAS    NELSON    AND    SONS, 
42,  BLEECKER  STREET. 

*AWY 
tJNIVERSI I  ALIFORNIA 


TO 


ROBERT    STEPHENSON,    ESQ., 


OF    HIM   WHOSE    LABOURS    HE    SHARED, 
AND    WHOSE   FAME   HE   INHERITS, 

ARE   DEDICATED 

BY   ONE 
WHO  OWES.  MUCH   TO   HIS   EARLY  INFLUENCE. 


PREFACE. 


HE  Author  of  these  Stones  is  anxious  to 
take  this  opportunity  of  offering  her  sin- 
cere thanks  to  the  friends  who  have  so 
kindly  assisted  her  in  her  undertaking. 
For  many  of  the  anecdotes  of  Mr.  Stephenson 
she  is  indebted  to  those  who  knew  him  well,  while 
for  the  accuracy  of  the  general  narrative  she  has 
relied  wholly  on  the  excellent  Life  of  George  Ste- 
phenson written  by  Mr.  Smiles.  Permission  to 
make  use  of  this  valuable  work  was  most  kindly 
obtained  for  her  by  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson,  whose 
ready  and  cordial  assistance  she  cannot  too  grate- 
fully acknowledge. 

In  the  preceding  Memoir  of  Watt,  the  writer  has 
derived  her  information  principally  from  the  lecture 
delivered  by  Arago  after  the  death  of  the  great 
engineer,  and  from  the  biography  subsequently 
published  by  Mr.  Muirhead. 

October  1858. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Young  Watt  absorbed  with  his  Problems,  .  .  .14 

Stephenson  and  his  dog  Spot,     .  .  .  .  .87 

Stephenson  and  his  Son  at  work  in  the  Cottage,  .  .130 

Stephenson  teaching  the  Navvies,  .  .  .  .182 


Section  of  Watt's  Steam-engine,  .  .  .  .28 

Stephenson's  Cottage  at  Willington  Quay1   (the  birthplace  of 

the  Son),      .  .  .  .  .  .  -95 

Stephenson's  Cottage  at  Killingworth,1' .  .  .  ,     123 

*  From  photographs  in  the  possession  of  Robert  Stephenson,  Esq. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  uses  of  steam,  as  a  motive  power,  known  from  remote 
antiquity — Origin  of  the  steam-engine — Gradual  improve- 
ments— Watt — Anecdotes  of  his  boyhood, 

CHAPTER  II. 

Watt  turns  his  attention  to  the  perfecting  of  the  steam-engine ; 
his  difficulties  ;  his  success — Watt  at  Birmingham— Old 
age— Death,  ...... 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  spinning-jenny — Hargraves — Arkwright,  . 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Arkwright  at  Nottingham— Establishes  the  works  at  Crom- 
ford;  their  success— George  Stephenson— Anecdotes  of 
his  youth,  ....... 

CHAPTER  V. 

Stephenson  ;  anecdotes  of  his  early  struggles  for  independence, 
and  of  his  untiring  energy  and  perseverance, 


47 


69 


95 


vlii  Contents. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

Stephenson  promoted  to  the  office  of  engineer  of  the  High  Pit 
— Anxiety  for  the  education  of  his  son — Robert's  early  life 
— The  first  locomotive — Improvements  in  the  locomotive,  123 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  safety-lamp — Stephenson  and  Sir  Humphrey  Davy — Ste- 
phenson suggests  the  formation  of  a  railroad  between  Dar- 
lington and  Stockton — Is  appointed  engineer — Opening  of 
the  line,  .......  145 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Projected  railroad  between  Manchester  and  Liverpool — Diffi- 
culties— Stephenson  appointed  engineer ;  displaced  ;  re- 
appointed — Trial  of  the  locomotive,  .  .  .169 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Opening  of  the  Manchester  and  Liverpool  line — The  Birming- 
ham line — Difficulties  overcome  by  Mr.  Robert  Stephen- 
son — Anecdotes  of  Mr.  George  Stephenson  in  later  life,  .  197 

CHAPTER  X. 

Mr.  George  Stephenson  in  old  age ;  honoured  ;  beloved — His 

death — Conclusion,  .....       223 


THE  TRIUMPHS  OF  STEAM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  uses  of  steam,  as  a  motive  power,  known  from  remote  antiquity 
—  Origin  of  the  steam-engine  —  Gradual  improvements  —  Watt  — 
Anecdotes  of  his  boyhood. 


HELEN,  are  you  going  down  to 
the    station    to    meet    Uncle    Henry?* 
inquired  Charles  Percival,  as  he  looked 
up  from  a  Bradshaw  he  had  been  in- 
tently studying. 

1  Yes  ;  and  you  may  go  with  me  if  you  like  it/ 

*  Thank  you  ;  I  should  like  it  very  much.     Only 
fancy,   Aunt   Helen/   added    Charles,  'that  Uncle 
Henry  was  in  Paris  yesterday,  and  will  be  at  home 
to-day  !     Is  it  not  wonderful  ?     What  did  people  do 
before  there  were  railroads  and  steamboats  ?' 

*  Stayed  at  home  like  sensible  people/  replied  Mrs. 
Grenville  with  a  smile. 

A 


2  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  But  seriously,  Aunt  Helen  ;  if  they  were  obliged 
to  take  any  long  journey,  what  did  they  do  then  ?' 

1  Went  by  coach  or  van,  or  in  their  own  carriages, 
on  horseback,  or  on  foot,  as  the  case  might  be.' 

'  What  a  waste  of  time !'  exclaimed  Charles.  '  It 
was  a  good  thing  that  steam  was  discovered.  Who 
did  discover  it,  Aunt  Helen  ?' 

'  Do  you  mean,  who  applied  the  power  to  its  pre- 
sent purposes  ?' 

'  No  ;  I  meant,  who  invented  steam/ 

'Invented  steam!'  exclaimed  Ernest,  laughing. 
'  Why,  Charles,  whoever  boiled  the  first  pot  of  water 
after  the  world  was  created  invented  steam, — Adam, 
perhaps/ 

1  It  is  a  law  of  nature,  my  love,'  interposed  Mrs. 
Grenville,  seeing  that  Charles  was  on  the  point  of 
making  an  angry  rejoinder,  'wherever  there  is  boil- 
ing water,  there  must  of  necessity  be  steam.' 

'  But  then,  why  did  not  the  old  Greeks  and  Romans 
have  steam-engines  and  railways  ?' 

'  Because  they  did  not  understand  how  to  apply 
the  power.' 

'And  who  first  found  that  out ?' 

'  Like  all  other  great  discoveries,  it  has  been  a 
gradual  process.  The  man  whose  genius  first  prac- 
tically developed  its  capabilities  was  the  celebrated 
James  Watt.' 

'And  who  was  he  ?'  asked  Charles. 

'  Oh !  I  know/  said  Arthur ;  '  he  was  one  of  the 


Steam  ^tsed  as  a  Motive  Power.  3 

most  eminent  engineers  that  ever  lived.  Mamma/ 
added  Arthur,  '  I  wish  you  could  do  something  that 
I  want  very  much/ 

'  What  is  that,  my  love  ?' 

'  Why,  mamma,  I  have  got  an  idea  in  my  head, 
and  I  want  to  work  it  out ;  and  I  have  been  reading 
all  the  books  lately  I  could  find  about  the  steam- 
engine,  but  they  have  such  long  hard  words,  they 
puzzle  and  confuse  me.  Now  I  think  if  you  could 
tell  me  exactly  who  first  thought  of  applying  steam 
to  its  present  purposes,  and  trace  the  various  im- 
provements made  in  the  engines,  I  should  get  some 
clear  notions  into  my  head,  and  then  when  I  went 
back  to  my  books  I  should  really  understand  what 
I  was  about.  Will  you  mind  telling  us  all  about  it, 
mamma  ?' 

'  I  should  be  most  delighted,  my  love,  if  I  thought 
I  understood  the  subject  sufficiently  clearly  to  make 
my  explanations  ot  any  use  to  you  ;  but  I  am  afraid 
what  you  want  requires  a  much  greater  knowledge 
of  science  than  I  possess/ 

'  Oh  no,  mamma ;  I  am  sure  you  could  tell  me  all 
I  want  to  know/ 

'  I  am  afraid  not.  The  utmost  I  could  do  would 
be  to  give  you  a  biographical  sketch  of  those  men 
whose  genius  and  perseverance  have  opened  up, 
through  the  application  of  steam  power,  means  of 
usefulness  and  civilisation,  such  as  the  world  never 
before  possessed ;  and  in  doing  this,  I  will  explain 


4  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

to  you  their  various  inventions  as  well  as  I  can, 
and  I  must  ask  papa  to  help  me  whenever  I  am  at 
fault/ 

'  Oh  do !  yes,  that  would  be  jolly/  exclaimed  the 
children;  and  Charles  added,  •' I  should  like  that, 
Aunt  Helen,  because  you  are  sure  to  tell  us  some 
amusing  stories — not  those  horrid  dry  calculations 
Arthur  is  so  fond  of  poring  over.  To  look  at  his 
papers  and  slates,  you  would  think  he  was  always 
drawing  models  for  agitated  scarecrows/ 

'Wait  and  see  what  become  of  my  scarecrows 
before  you  laugh  at  them,  Charles/  replied  Arthur 
good-naturedly. 

*  Yes ;  and  remember,  Charles/  said  Mrs.   Gren- 
ville,  '  concentration  of  thought,  let  the  subject  be 
what  it  will,  is  the  first  step  towards  success.     When 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  once  asked  how  it  was  that 
he  discovered  the  principle  of  attraction,  he  replied, 
"  By  constantly  thinking  of  it."     Had  this  not  been 
the  case,  apples  might  have  fallen  all  around  him 
without  revealing  to  him  the  law  of  gravitation  ;  so, 
as  Arthur  says,  wait  and  see  what  becomes  of  his 
scarecrows  before  you  laugh  at  them.' 

*  Well,  if  I  may  not  laugh/  said  Charles,  '  the  next 
best  thing  to  do  will  be  to  try  and  understand  ;  so  I 
promise  you,  Aunt  Helen,  to  listen  as  attentively  as 
possible,  and  who  knows  but  that  I  may  end  by  draw- 
ing scarecrows  myself?' 

'That  would  be  a  happy  result.     I  can  hardly 


Anthemiiiss  Revenge  on  Zeno.  5 

hope  for  anything  so  fortunate ;  but  if  I  can  inspire 
you  with  some  of  the  wonderful  energy  which  has 
distinguished  Watt  and  Arkwright,  George  and 
Robert  Stephenson,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  tell 
you  their  stories.' 

'Well,  Aunt  Helen,  never  despair.  How  often 
you  have  said  so  to  me !' 

'  But,  mamma/  said  Arthur,  *  when  was  steam  first 
known  as  a  moving  power?' 

'Probably  much  earlier  than  is  generally  sup- 
posed/ replied  Mrs.  Grenville  ;  '  for  Arago  mentions 
a  curious  anecdote  of  Anthemius,  an  architect,  who, 
having  a  particular  spite  against  Zeno,  his  next-door 
neighbour,  thought  of  a  most  ingenious  method  of 
venting  it.  He  placed  some  caldrons,  large  enough 
to  hold  a  considerable  quantity  of  water,  on  the 
ground  floor  of  his  own  house.  From  these  he 
passed  a  tube  into  the  wall  which  divided  his  dwell- 
ing from  Zeno's,  and  conducted  the  tubes  into  the 
beams  of  Zeno's  sitting-rooms ;  then  making  the 
water  in  the  caldrons  boiling  hot,  the  steam  rushed 
up  the  tubes,  shaking  the  apartments  of  his  unfortu- 
nate victim  as  if  they  had  been  convulsed  by  some 
sudden  earthquake. 

'It  is  generally  supposed  that  it  was  to  their 
knowledge  of  the  properties  of  steam  that  the  magi- 
cians of  Egypt  were  indebted  for  the  power  of  work- 
ing many  of  their  pretended  miracles ;  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  pagan  priests,  and  probably  many 


6  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

of  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages,  took  advantage  of 
the  same  secret.  Near  the  banks  of  the  Weser  stood 
the  temple  of  a  celebrated  German  god,  Busterich, 
held  in  profound  veneration  from  the  awful  mani- 
festations he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  to  such  of 
his  worshippers  as  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  under 
his  displeasure.  Suddenly,  as  the  evil-doers  entered 
his  courts,  they  would  be  startled  by  a  sound,  loud 
as  pealing  thunder,  and  then  in  a  moment  they 
were  enveloped  in  so  thick  a  cloud,  that  their  deity 
was  entirely  hidden  from  their  view.  Terrified  by 
a  phenomenon  for  which  they  were  utterly  unable  to 
account,  they  were  only  too  thankful  to  make  their 
peace  on  any  terms,  little  imagining  that  some 
boiling  water  had  been  all  that  was  required  to 
bring  their  fierce,  wild  spirits  into  subjection.  This 
stratagem  was  managed  by  the  figure  of  the  god 
being  cast  in  metal ;  the  head  was  left  hollow  that 
it  might  be  filled  with  water,  and  an  apparatus  was 
very  skilfully  contrived  by  which  the  water  might  be 
gradually  heated ;  the  eyes  were  well  plugged,  and 
an  aperture  was  left  in  the  forehead,  which  was  also 
carefully  closed.  The  priests  were  quite  aware  of 
the  length  of  time  that  the  water  would  require  to 
heat,  and  always  so  arranged  matters  that  their  god 
should  receive  his  worshippers  at  the  moment  when 
the  condensed  steam  was  ready  to  explode.  Out 
flew  the  plugs  from  the  eyes  and  forehead,  the 
steam  rushed  forth  with  the  most  violent  noise, 


Ingenuity  of  the  French.  7 

and  the  whole  area  of  the  temple  was  enveloped 
in  a  thick  white  cloud.  No  wonder  that  the  igno- 
rant multitude  were  terrified  and  astonished.  We 
ought  to  be  very  thankful  that  times  have  changed 
since  then,  and  that  now  every  fresh  discovery  of 
science  only  tends  to  promote  the  happiness  and 
well-being  of  mankind,  instead  of  being  made  an 
instrument  by  which  the  masses  of  the  people  may 
be  kept  in  ignorant  subjection.  It  was  not,  however, 
until  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  that 
any  one  seems  to  have  thought  seriously  of  the 
possibility  of  using  steam  power  to  supply  the  place 
of  manual  labour ;  and  to  a  Frenchman  the  honour 
of  the  discovery  is  due,  although  we  are  rather  apt 
to  claim  the  merit  for  our  own  countryman,  the 
Marquis  of  Worcester/ 

1  The  French  are  always  far  more  ingenious  in 
making  discoveries  than  ourselves/  said  Charles. 

'Ah !  but/  added  Ernest,  'they  do  not  bring  their 
inventions  to  such  perfection  as  we  do :  do  they, 
mamma  ?' 

'  Not  in  those  that  require  great  strength  and 
solidity/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville.  *  As  a  nation,  the 
French  are  endowed  with  such  rapid  and  brilliant 
imagination,  that  they  have  not  the  patience  to 
enter  into  all  the  minute  details  of  business  with 
the  perseverance  that  distinguishes  their  more  slow- 
minded  neighbours.  Solomon  de  Caus  could  point 
out  very  ingeniously  the  theory  of  a  steam-engine, 


8  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

but  he  left  it  to  Captain  Savery  to  reduce  his  theory 
into  practice.  A  curious  story  is  told  of  a  visit  the 
Marquis  of  Worcester  paid  to  the  Bicetre,  a  cele- 
brated madhouse,  when  he  was  in  Paris  in  1641. 
He  and  a  party  of  ladies  were  being  conducted 
round  the  building,  when  their  attention  was  at- 
tracted by  the  sound  of  loud  cries,  as  of  a  person 
in  the  greatest  distress. 

'"Who  is  the  unfortunate  man  who  is  in  such 
dreadful  suffering  ?"  asked  the  Marquis. 

'"He?  Oh,  he  is  a  poor  fellow,"  replied  the 
keeper,  "who  fancies  that  he  has  made  some  great 
discovery ;  and  he  has  pestered  the  government  so 
constantly  for  means  to  carry  out  his  absurd  in- 
vention, that  at  length,  to  spare  themselves  any 
further  importunity,  they  have  shut  him  up  here ; 
and  he  goes  on  all  day  long  just  as  you  hear 
him  now." 

'  "I  am  not  mad  !  I  am  not  mad  !"  exclaimed  the 
unfortunate  prisoner,  whose  cell  the  party  had  by 
this  time  approached ;  "  but  I  have  made  such  a 
discovery,  that  if  I  might  but  try  it,  I  should  be 
called  the  greatest  benefactor  the  world  has  ever 
known.  If  they  would  but  listen  to  me,  people 
would  travel  faster  by  steam  than  the  swiftest  horses 
have  ever  been  able  to  draw  them." 

'  The  Marquis  of  Worcester  was  much  struck  with 
the  remark,  and  wanted  to  stop  and  question  the 
unhappy  man ;  but  this  the  keeper,  fearful  of  in- 


The  French  Prisoner  of  the  Bicetre.         9 

curring  the  displeasure  of  his  superiors,  would  not 
allow ;  and  the  party  moved  on,  leaving  the  man — 
whose  mind  was  so  in  advance  of  the  times  as  to 
render  him  the  victim  of  ignorant  narrow-minded- 
ness— to  pine  in  solitary  confinement,  and  die  at 
last  a  broken-hearted  monomaniac.  But  so  it  has 
almost  always  been.  The  originator  of  any  great 
invention  has  seldom  been  the  one  to  profit  by  it. 
In  late  years,  indeed,  this  can  hardly  be  said  so 
truly,  for  there  is  always  a  danger  of  running  into 
extremes  ;  and  as  education  has  become  more  gene- 
ral, as  the  marvels  of  science  have  been  gradually 
developed,  the  world  has  become  as  credulous  as 
it  once  was  unbelieving.  "  If  so  much  has  been 
accomplished,"  people  say,  "  what  wonders  may  not 
be  yet  in  store?"  and  the  consequence  has  been,  that 
every  absurd  notion  of  any  clever  theorist  has  been 
as  eagerly  caught  at  as  if  it  had  been  founded  on 
the  unchanging  laws  of  nature,  or  the  best  tested 
rules  of  science.  Perhaps,  however,  of  the  two,  it  is 
the  least  evil,  because  it  is  one  which  must  of  neces- 
sity work  its  own  cure ;  whereas,  in  the  other  case, 
you  extinguish  a  light  which  you  cannot  tell  how 
many  years  it  may  require  to  rekindle.  If  the  un- 
fortunate Frenchman  had  not  died  a  maniac  in  the 
Bicetre,  we  might  not  have  had  to  wait  a  century 
for  Watt  and  Stephenson.' 

'  When  was  Watt  born,  mamma  ?'  asked  Ernest 

'  On  the  I  gth  of  January  1736. 


io  The  Triumphs  of  Steam.  • 

'  And  what  was  known  about  the  steam-engine  at 
that  time  ?'  added  Ernest. 

'  Very  little  for  any  practical  purpose.  Solomon  de 
Caus  had  written  his  book,  The  Reason  of  Moving 
Forces,  in  1615.  He  had  been  followed  in  1663 
by  the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  who  actually  made  a 
small  engine,  which,  in  his  own  words,  "  could  drive 
water  up  by  fire;"  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  used,  and  people  went  to  admire  it  as  a  sort  of 
ingenious  toy,  without  having  a  notion  of  the  won- 
derful perfection  to  which  it  was  afterwards  to  be 
brought.  In  1698  an  engine  on  a  very  improved 
principle  was  constructed  by  Captain  Savery,  who 
called  it  "  The  Miners'  Friend,"  from  its  being  de- 
signed principally  to  force  up  water  from  a  great 
depth,  and  being  therefore  well  calculated  to  clear 
the  mines,  in  which  large  bodies  of  water  are  apt  to 
accumulate.  But  the  miners  were  afraid  of  their 
"  Friend,"  and  consequently  it  was  very  seldom  em- 
ployed :  but  perhaps,  after  all,  this  was  fortunate,  as, 
in  the  then  imperfect  state  of  the  machine,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  constant  explosions  would  have 
taken  place,  the  men  would  have  been  frightened, 
and  their  fears  would  have  interfered  sadly  with  the 
success  of  any  future  experiments. 

'  The  next  great  step  in  advance  was  made  by 
Denis  Papin,  a  man  of  rare  ability,  who,  driven  out 
of  France  on  account  of  his  religion,  at  the  time  of 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  took  refuge 


Papiris  Discovery.  1 1 

in  England,  and  then  devoted  himself  entirely  to 
scientific  pursuits.  But  now  I  have  come  to  a  point 
in  which  I  sadly  want  papa's  help.  We  must  ask 
him  to  make  us  a  little  model,  and  then  you  will  see 
the  full  value  of  the  discovery  which  Papin  made, — 
that  steam  might  be  used  as  a  medium  for  creating 
a  vacuum,  to  ensure  the  regular  action  of  the  piston 
within  the  cylinder.  By  the  heat  of  steam  he  pro- 
duced one  movement ;  by  the  sudden  cooling,  or 
condensation  of  steam,  he  produced  the  next.  But 
still  there  was  one  defect,  which,  with  all  his  inge- 
nuity, Papin  could  not  overcome.  His  piston  worked 
regularly  indeed,  but  it  moved  so  very  slowly,  that 
for  any  work  requiring  speed  his  engine  would  have 
been  comparatively  useless.  His  cylinder  rested 
on  a  metal  plate,  which  was  made  hot  to  generate 
the  steam,  and  removed  to  condense  it.  Of  course 
this  took  a  long  time,  and  what  was  required  was  a 
rapid  way  of  employing  the  two  forces  almost  at 
the  same  moment. 

'Accident  gave  the  next  clue  towards  success. 
Some  years  after  Papin's  engines  had  been  very 
generally  employed  in  England,  having  been  con- 
siderably improved  by  Newcomen  and  Cawley,  a 
manufacturer,  who  had  one  of  these  engines  on  his 
premises,  was  very  much  astounded  to  see  the  pis- 
ton seized  with  a  sudden  fit  of  agility,  and  working 
backwards  and  forwards  at  a  most  unnatural  rate. 
Anxious  to  discover  what  was  the  cause  of  this  very 


1 2  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

unexpected  energy,  he  carefully  examined  the  ma- 
chine, and  found  that  the  piston  had  become  pierced, 
some  cold  water  fell  through  the  holes,  and,  passing 
through  the  steam,  absorbed  it,  thus  rapidly  creat- 
ing the  required  vacuum.  This  accidental  discovery 
suggested  the  idea  of  pouring  a  shower  of  cold  water 
into  the  cylinder  as  the  piston  was  descending.  It 
was  found  to  answer  admirably,  and  that  a  great 
increase  of  power  was  in  this  manner  obtained. 

'  Still,  with  these  improvements,  Newcomen's  was 
a  very  difficult  engine  to  manage,  as  it  required 
the  most  undivided  attention  ;  it  being  necessary  at 
every  moment  first  to  open  the  cock  to  let  in  the 
steam,  and  then  to  pour  in  the  cold  water  intended 
to  condense  it.  Now  it  happened  that  one  day  an 
engine  was  left  in  charge  of  a  boy  named  Humphery 
Potter,  who  was  infinitely  fonder  of  play  than  of 
work.  It  was  irresistibly  provoking  to  him  to  hear 
his  young  companions'  shouts  of  merry  laughter  just 
outside  the  engine-house,  whilst  he  was  losing  all 
the  beautiful  bright  day  watching  a  tiresome  engine, 
and  opening  and  shutting  for  everlasting  two  mono- 
tonous cocks.  Why  could  not  the  tiresome  things 
open  and  shut  themselves  ?  The  idea  once  sug- 
gested to  his  mind,  he  eagerly  looked  about  for 
some  means  of  carrying  it  out.  Being  naturally  as 
ingenious  as  he  was  fond  of  play,  he  hit  upon  a  plan 
by  which,  by  means  of  strings,  the  beam  might  be 
made  to  open  and  shut  the  cocks  for  itself  as  it  rose 


Hwnphery  Potter  s  Discovery.  1 3 

and  fell  in  the  cylinder.  Nothing  could  be  more 
successful  than  the  experiment.  The  engine  worked 
by  itself,  and  Master  Humphery  ran  off  to  signalize 
his  success  in  a  game  of  romps  with  his  playfellows.' 

'Aunt  Helen!'  exclaimed  Charles,  'if  you  set 
such  an  example  before  me,  you  have  no  right  to 
blame  me  because  I  like  cricket  better  than  lessons. 
Now,  remember,  the  next  time  you  scold  me  for 
being  idle,  I  shall  remind  you  of  Humphery  Potter.' 

'  I  give  you  leave  to  do  so/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville, 
'if  you  will  promise  to  show  me  at  the  same  time 
that,  before  you  left  your  work  for  your  play,  you 
had  invented  a  scheme  by  which  it  could  be  done 
as  thoroughly  by  mechanical  assistance  as  by  your- 
self. But  I  am  almost  afraid/  she  added  with  a 
smile,  'that  the  engine  is  not  invented  that  will 
ever  drive  Latin  and  Greek  into  your  head.' 

'At  any  rate,  Aunt  Helen,  I  have  got  the  vacuum 
ready  ;  that  is  something/ 

'  How  surprised,  mamma/  said  Arthur,  '  the  man 
must  have  been  who  first  saw  the  engine  working  by 
itself/ 

'Very  much  surprised,  indeed,  and  very  angry,  I 
should  think,  with  Potter  for  leaving  his  duty.  How- 
ever, the  idea  suggested  by  his  expedient  was  imme- 
diately followed  up,  and  rods  were  fixed  to  the  beam, 
furnished  with  pegs  which  pressed  upon  the  cocks, 
opening  or  shutting  them,  as  the  case  might  be,  and 
thus  enabling  the  engine  to  do  its  work  entirely  by 


14  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

itself,  with  the  exception  that  the  stoker  was  of 
course  obliged  to  see  occasionally  to  the  fire.  This 
was  the  last  great  improvement  made  in  the  steam- 
engine,  until  the  time  when  James  Watt,  by  dis- 
covering how  to  condense  the  steam,  so  wonderfully 
developed  its  extraordinary  powers  of  usefulness. 

'From  his  earliest  childhood  James  Watt  was 
remarkable  for  the  great  thoughtfulness  of  his 
character.  To  a  certain  extent  this  was  perhaps 
owing  to  his  being  of  a  very  delicate  constitution, 
and  therefore  unable  to  enter  into  the  more  active 
amusements  of  his  young  companions.  He  would 
spend  hours  in  thinking  over  the  various  scientific 
problems,  which  were  his  great  delight.  On  one 
occasion  a  gentleman  was  paying  a  visit  to  his 
father ;  James,  a  mere  child  of  six  years  old,  quite 
regardless  of  there  being  a  visitor  in  the  room,  was 
wholly  engrossed  in  drawing  lines  with  white  chalk 
upon  the  floor.  The  gentleman  looked  at  him  for 
some  little  time  in  silence,  but  at  length — angry,  I 
suppose,  with  Mr.  Watt  for  letting  his  son  make 
such  a  mess  on  the  floor — "I  cannot  think,  Mr. 
Watt,"  he  exclaimed,  "how  you  can  let  that  child 
waste  his  time  in  that  way.  Why  do  you  not  send 
him  to  school  ?" 

' "  Let  us  see  what  he  is  about,"  said  Mr.  Watt, 
"  before  we  condemn  him.  James  does  not  generally 
waste  his  time." 

'  They  got  up  to  look  :  James  had  not  even  heard 


Watt's  First  Experiments.  1 5 

the  remark,  so  entirely  was  his  mind  absorbed  in 
working  out  a  geometrical  problem.  At  another 
time  he  was  paying  a  visit  to  his  aunt,  Miss  Muir- 
head.  One  evening  when  they  were  just  sitting 
down  to  tea,  James,  instead  of  taking  his  meal  as 
usual,  was  seized  with  a  spirit  of  investigation :  he 
drew  the  kettle  towards  him ;  he  took  off  the  lid, 
he  put  it  on  again ;  he  got  a  spoon  and  held  it  to 
the  spout,  counting  into  how  many  drops  of  water 
the  steam  condensed ;  then  he  took  a  tea-cup  and 
repeated  the  experiment.  Nearly  half  an  hour  was 
occupied  in  this  way,  until  at  length  Miss  Muir- 
head's  patience  was  fairly  exhausted,  and  she  said 
quite  angrily,  "  James,  James,  what  are  you  about  ? 
Are  you  not  ashamed  of  wasting  your  time  in  this 
disgraceful  manner  ? " 

'  But  James  was  not  wasting  his  time.  Boy  as  he 
was,  at  that  moment  he  had  obtained  the  first  clue 
to  his  great  discovery,  that  condensed  steam  might 
be  employed  as  a  motive  power ;  and  how  this  was 
to  be  managed,  became  from  that  day  forth  the  un- 
ceasing object  of  his  thoughts.  Fond  as  he  was, 
however,  of  scientific  pursuits,  he  was  no  less  re- 
markable for  his  lively  imagination.  Never  was 
such  a  story-teller!  He  would  keep  his  young 
companions  listening  breathlessly  for  the  hour 
together  to  the  wonderful  narratives  that  he  in- 
vented for  the  occasion.  Nor  was  it  only  the  young 
that  he  charmed.  He  commanded  the  attention  of 


1 6  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

listeners  of  all  ages.  At  one  time,  when  his  mother 
was  going  to  pay  a  visit  in  Glasgow,  she  asked  a 
friend  of  hers  if  she  would  take  charge  of  James 
during  her  absence.  The  lady  consented,  and  James 
went  to  pay  the  visit.  At  the  earliest  opportunity, 
however,  that  occurred,  his  hostess  begged  Mrs. 
Watt  to  take  her  son  home  again.  "If  not,"  she 
said,  "we  shall  be  all  fairly  worn  out.  Just  at  the 
time  when  we  ought  to  be  going  to  bed,  James 
begins  to  tell  us  some  wonderful  story.  It  is  im- 
possible to  go  away  till  it  is  finished,  and  we  all 
become  so  excited  and  so  interested,  that  as  to 
sleeping  afterwards,  the  thing  is  out  of  the  question  : 
we  can  think  of  nothing  but  your  son's  extraordinary 
stories.  Do,  pray,  take  him  home,  that  we  may  have 
some  chance  of  rest." 

'  Mrs.  Watt  complied  with  her  friend's  request,  and 
James  returned  to  his  own  home,  rather  provoked, 
perhaps,  that  his  visit  should  have -been  thus  cur- 
tailed. To  be  able  to  tell  a  story  well,  is,  no  doubt, 
a  very  great  talent,  and  it  was  one  which  Mr.  Watt 
retained  even  to  old  age.  His  imagination  was  as 
vivid  then  as  when  he  was  quite  a  boy,  and  nothing 
delighted  him  more  than  to  be  able  to  tell  a  story 
with  such  spirit  as  to  deceive  his  auditors  into  the 
belief  that  they  were  listening  to  some  true  narrative, 
when  all  the  time  he  was  only  spinning  out  of  his 
own  brain  the  startling  incidents  which  they  were 
hearing  with  such  breathless  interest.' 


Watfs  Skilfulness  when  a  Boy.          1 7 

'  I  think  James  Watt  was  very  like  you,  Arthur/ 
exclaimed  Charles.  '  You  are  just  as  queer  a  com- 
pound, what  with  your  tiresome  problems  and  your 
funny  stories/ 

*  I  wish  I  thought  I  should  ever  be  half  as  clever/ 
replied  Arthur  with  a  slight  sigh. 

'  You  must  imitate  Watt's  example,  then/  replied 
Mrs.  Grenville.  '  He  obtained  his  knowledge,  as 
every  one  else  must  obtain  it,  by  patient,  hard  work  ; 
and,  in  his  case,  he  laboured  under  very  great  dis- 
advantages, for  his  delicate  health  prevented  his  re- 
ceiving any  regular  instruction,  and  he  was  therefore 
obliged  in  great  measure  to  educate  himself.  He 
used,  when  quite  a  boy,  to  take  his  toys  to  pieces, 
examine  how  they  were  made,  and  then  put  them 
together  again ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  learned  the 
principle  on  which  they  were  constructed,  he  would 
invent  new  ones.  This  aptitude  for  invention  made 
him  extremely  popular  amongst  all  his  young  play- 
fellows ;  and  his  popularity  attained  its  climax  when 
he  constructed  a  small  electrical  machine,  which  be- 
came an  endless  source  of  amusement  to  himself 
and  his  friends. 

'  Mr.  Watt  not  being  a  wealthy  man,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  his  son  should  decide  at  a  very  early  age 
what  profession  he  would  like  to  follow.  His  father's 
occupations  were  numerous:  amongst  other  things 
he  kept  a  sort  of  shop,  where  he  sold  nautical  instru- 
ments, and  stores  necessary  for  sailors.  It  occurred 

B 


1 8  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

to  James,  that  if  he  were  to  become  a  mathematical 
instrument  maker,  he  could  both  help  his  father  and 
follow  out  his  own  favourite  scientific  pursuits.  In 
1754,  therefore,  when  he  was  about  eighteen  years 
of  age,  he  went  to  Glasgow,  intending  to  reside  there 
for  a  time,  that  he  might  learn  the  business.  He 
had  not,  however,  been  many  months  at  work  before 
he  was  seized  with  an  ardent  longing  to  go  to  Lon- 
don, feeling  sure  that  there  alone  he  could  properly 
learn  all  the  niceties  of  his  profession.  To  obtain 
sufficient  means  to  carry  out  his  project,  was,  how- 
ever, the  great  difficulty.  His  father's  income  was 
at  this  time  unusually  small,  and  James  did  not  like 
to  encroach  upon  his  generosity  merely  to  gratify  a 
whim  of  his  own.  It  so  happened,  however,  that  he 
had  attracted  the  attention  of  some  of  the  most 
scientific  men  in  Glasgow ;  and  they  not  only  con- 
firmed his  own  impression  that  London  was  the  only 
place  where  he  could  profitably  study,  but  by  the 
very  high  terms  in  which  they  spoke  to  Mr.  Watt  of 
his  son,  and  the  advantages  which  they  pointed  out 
as  sure  to  arise  for  him  from  a  visit  to  the  metro- 
polis, they  induced  Mr.  Watt  to  listen  favourably  to 
James's  wishes,  and  it  was  settled  that  he  should  be 
allowed  to  follow  his  own  inclinations,  and  appren- 
tice himself  for  a  time  to  some  celebrated  London 
optician.  Having  made  all  his  arrangements  as 
economically  as  possible,  James  Watt  left  Glasgow 
on  the  /th  of  June  1755  ;  and  as  the  cheapest  way 


Waffs  Journey  to  London.  19 

of  performing  the  journey,  he  travelled  on  horseback, 
taking  twelve  days  on  the  road.' 

'  And  now/  exclaimed  Ernest,  '  you  can  do  it  in 
exactly  the  same  number  of  hours.  Oh  mamma, 
only  fancy!' 

1 1  wonder  whether  our  children  will  do  it  in  as 
many  minutes  ?'  added  Charles,  laughing. 

'  I  pity  them  if  they  do,'  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 
'  But  such  a  supposition  hardly  seems  more  ridiculous 
to  us,  than  the  fact  Ernest  has  just  mentioned  would 
have  seemed  to  men  who  lived  a  hundred  years  ago. 
Half  a  century  later,  and  Stephenson  did  not  dare 
to  say,  lest  he  should  be  mistaken  for  a  madman, 
that  the  engine  he  had  invented  could  move  at  the 
rate  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour.  However,  we  must 
leave  Watt  travelling  leisurely  up  to  London,  or  we 
shall  have  papa  arriving  at  the  station  before  we  are 
there  to  meet  him,  and  that  would  be  a  terrible  dis- 
aster. Run  away  and  get  ready.' 

What  strange  fascination  is  there  at  a  railway 
station,  that  the  excitement  never  seems  to  die  away. 
Go  when  you  will,  there  is  the  same  sort  of  restless 
longing  for  the  coming  train,  and  amused  stir  in 
watching  the  departing  one.  You  may  have  seen  it 
all  a  hundred  times  before ;  but  jiist  as  eagerly  as 
ever  you  watch  for  the  first  faint  breath  of  steam 
that  you  see  rising  up  beyond  that  distant  cutting ; 
you  strain  your  ear  to  hear  the  far-off  whistle,  or 
listen  to  the  snorting  engine,  as,  gliding  into  the 


2O  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

station,  it  puffs  out  its  disgust  at  being  arrested  in 
mid  career.  But  it  was  a  more  than  usually  eager 
group  that  were  watching  that  day  on  the  platform 
of  Ivybridge  Station. 

'  It  is  lucky,  mamma,  that  the  train  is  a  little 
late/  exclaimed  Ernest,  as  he  looked  down  the  line, 
in  vain  endeavouring  to  make  out  a  symptom  of  its 
approach.  '  Kempton  was  quite  in  a  taking.  Did 
we  not  come  fast,  mamma  ?  I  wonder  what  papa 
would  have  said  if  he  had  seen  the  horses  all  in  a 
foam  ! ' 

'  He  would  have  scolded  me,  and  very  justly  too. 
We  were  so  busy  talking,  I  quite  forgot  to  look  at 
the  clock/ 

'  I  am  very  glad  you  did,  Aunt  Helen/  said 
Charles ;  *  it  is  such  fun  being  late.  I  like  scamper- 
ing along,  wondering  whether  we  shall  be  in  time 
or  not.' 

'  Oh  I  do  not/  said  Arthur.  '  I  kept  thinking  all 
the  way  we  should  be  too  late,  and  that  papa  would 
be  vexed/ 

'  Nonsense/  replied  Charles ;  '  I  was  sure  we  should 
be  in  excellent  time.  Kempton  Knew  better  than  to 
let  "  Master"  arrive  first/ 

1  Here  it  comes,  here  it  comes  V  exclaimed  Ernest 
joyfully ;  and  in  a  moment  after,  the  loud  ringing  of 
the  bell  announced  that  the  train  was  in  sight ;  and 
now,  who  should  first  see  papa  ?  What  a  rush  along 
the  platform,  and  eager  looking  in  at  all  the  win- 


Arrival  of  the  Train.  21 

dows  !  There,  now  the  doors  are  open.  Oh,  Arthur 
has  found  papa,  and  the  children  crowd  so  eagerly 
round  him,  that  Mrs.  Grenville  is  obliged  to  stand 
back,  and  wait  for  her  greeting  till  their  first  ebulli- 
tions of  joy  have  subsided. 

'  Come,  come,  children/  said  Mr  Grenville,  shaking 
them  off  good-naturedly ;  '  stand  back,  I  want  to  see 
to  mamma  and  my  luggage/ 

'  Mamma  and  your  luggage !  Oh,  papa,  the  idea 
of  putting  them  together!  There,  see  John  has 
collected  a  great  pile ;  so  now  you  can  attend  to 
mamma  altogether/ 

'  Anything  more,  sir  ?'  said  John,  touching  his  hat. 

'  No,  that  is  all.  Now,  mamma/  And  in  a  few 
minutes  the  little  party  were  seated  in  the  carriage 
listening  to  papa's  adventures,  and  telling  him  all 
that  had  taken  place  at  the  Grange  during  his  ab- 
sence ;  amongst  the  rest,  that  mamma  was  going  to 
tell  them  all  about  the  steam-engine,  and  that  he 
was  to  make  the  models  ; — a  particularly  gratifying 
announcement,  as  papa  said,  to  a  tired  man,  at  the 
end  of  a  long  day's  journey. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Watt  turns  his  attention  to  the  perfecting  of  the  steam-engine ;  his 
difficulties  ;  his  success — Watt  at  Birmingham — Old  age — Death. 

mamma/  said  Arthur,  when  the  chil- 
dren were*  in  the  study,  a  few  days  after 
Mr.  Grenville's  return  from  Paris ;  '  now 
that  papa  has  come  home,  you  will  be 
able  to  get  on  famously  with  Watt's  life.  He  will 
be  able  to  explain  to  us  all  that  you  do  not  under- 
stand.' 

'  I  am  sure  I  hope  he  will/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville ; 
'  for,  as  I  told  you  at  first,  I  know  very  little  of 
scientific  subjects/ 

'  But  you  can  tell  us  the  story,  Aunt  Helen,  and 
that  is  worth  a  hundred  scientific  dialogues/  ex- 
claimed Charles.  '  Give  me  the  results,  and  I  do  not 
care  so  very  much  to  know  how  they  were  obtained/ 
'  Oh  Charles  !'  said  Arthur  in  a  tone  of  such  re- 
proachful surprise  that  neither  Mr.  nor  Mrs.  Grenville 
could  help  laughing ;  and  Mrs.  Grenville  added, 
*  You  remind  me  of  a  story  that  Arago  tells  of  a 


24  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

professor  of  geometry,  who  was  taking  the  'greatest 
pains  to  explain  various  problems  to  his  pupils. 
"  Why  do  you  give  yourself  all  this  unnecessary 
trouble?"  exclaimed  one  of  the  party.  "We  trust 
you  entirely  ;  only  give  us  your  word  of  honour  that 
what  you  say  is  true,  and  we  want  no  further  ex- 
planations." ' 

Charles  laughed,  whilst  Arthur  added  very  gravely, 
'  That  would  have  been  a  most  unsatisfactory  way  of 
learning  to  me,  mamma/ 

'  It  would,  indeed,  my  love.  I  only  told  you  the 
story,  because  I  thought  it  was  so  appropriate  to 
Charles's  remark ;  but  I  should  be  very  sorry  that 
you  should  imitate  the  lazy  pupils  of  the  unfortunate 
professor.  I  would  far  rather  you  should  follow  the 
example  of  our  hard-working  friend  James  Watt/ 

'  What  did  he  do,  mamma,  when  he  reached  Lon- 
don ?'  said  Ernest.  '  He  must  have  been  rather  tired 
with  his  long  ride,  I  think/ 

*  His  first  anxiety/  continued  Mrs.  Grenville,  '  was 
to  find  some  really  scientific  man,  at  whose  work- 
shop he  could  not  only  learn  the  mechanical  por- 
tions of  his  business,  but  be  taught  the  principles  on 
which  instruments  were  constructed.  Fortunately 
his  friend  Dr.  Dick  had  given  him  an  introduction 
to  a  Mr.  Short,  through  whose  influence  Mr.  Morgan, 
a  mathematical  instrument  maker  of  some  fame,  was 
induced  to  give  Watt  an  opportunity  of  trying  his 
powers.  He  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  his 


Watt  in  London.  25 

new  pupil  was  possessed  of  very  unusual  abilities, 
and  readily  agreed  that,  for  a  sum  of  £20,  Watt 
should  spend  a  year  with  him  in  London,  and  study 
under  his  own  immediate  tuition.  James  was  de- 
lighted with  the  plan,  and  set  to  work  with  a  hearty 
good-will  to  improve  his  present  advantages,  making 
such  rapid  progress  as  quite  astonished  Mr.  Morgan. 
The  first  in  the  morning,  the  last  at  night,  James 
was  always  at  his  post,  employing  the  extra  hours, 
when  he  was  not  bound  to  his  master,  in  procuring 
for  himself  the  very  frugal  means  of  support  which 
were  all  that  he  allowed  himself.  Stint  himself, 
however,  as  he  would,  he  found  he  could  not  live 
on  less  than  eight  shillings  a  week  ;  and  even  for  this 
sum,  small  as  it  seems,  he  did  not  like  to  ask  his 
father.  It  was  a  hard  trial  at  the  time,  but  I  have 
no  doubt  it  greatly  contributed  to  his  future  success, 
by  giving  him  habits  of  self-denial  and  patient  en- 
durance. Only  twice  in  the  whole  year  did  Watt 
allow  himself  to  deviate  in  any  way  from  the  strict 
rule  of  life  that  he  had  marked  out  for  himself.  He 
went  to  see  the  king,  on  his  arrival  from  Germany; 
and  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  going  to 
hear  the  war  proclaimed  at  Temple  Bar, — a  cere- 
mony very  much  more  attractive  then  than  it  is  in 
our  matter-of-fact  days,  when  we  are  inclined  to 
think  everything  absurd  that  is  not  practically  useful 
in  a  monied  point  of  view.  At  length,  however,  poor 
James's  health  fairly  gave  way  from  incessant  work, 


26  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  from  rigorous  self-denial.  A  change  of  air  and 
scene  was  clearly  necessary :  he  decided  upon  return- 
ing to  Glasgow,  hoping  that  the  ride  home  would  do 
much  to  re-establish  his  health.  And  happily,  either 
that,  or  the  return  to  his  native  country,  proved  bene- 
ficial ;  and  Watt,  with  renewed  strength  and  spirit, 
began  life  for  himself. 

'A  most  unexpected  difficulty,  however,  met  him 
*at  the  onset.  The  old  established  work-people  of 
Glasgow  were  so  jealous  of  Watt,  considering  him 
as  an  interloper,  that  they  positively  refused  to 
allow  him  to  open  a  shop  within  the  precincts  of  the 
city  walls ;  but  their  ill-natured  jealousy  proved,  in 
the  end,  of  the  greatest  possible  service  to  him.  Dr. 
Dick,  and  other  of  the  Glasgow  University  men,  re- 
senting the  injustice  done  to  their  young  friend, 
offered  him  a  room  in  the  College  itself,  and  gave 
him  all  the  employment  that  they  could,  with  the 
title  of  "  Mathematical  Instrument  Maker  to  the 
University."  But  it  was  not  only  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view  that  this  v/as  an  advantage  to  Watt,  it 
was  still  more  so  from  the  opportunity  it  gave  him  of 
being  constantly  in  the  society  of  clever  and  scien- 
tific men,  and  thus  affording  him  the  best  possible 
means  of  acquiring  fresh  knowledge,  and  pursuing 
those  studies  which  were  to  result  in  a  discovery 
destined  to  be  one  of  universal  benefit.  Watt  had 
been  for  several  years  settled  in  Glasgow,  when  he 
\vas  asked  to  look  at  the  model  of  a  steam-engine 


Watfs  First  Success.  27 

which  was  quite  out  of  repair,  and  which  one  of  the 
professors  of  the  University  was  anxious  to  have  put 
into  proper  working  order.  Watt  complied  with  the 
request :  he  saw  directly  what  was  amiss,  and  gladly 
undertook  the  commission  of  putting  the  machine 
to  rights.  In  a  short  time  it  was  working  better 
than  it  had  ever  done  before.  Not  content  with  this 
first  success,  he  now  became  anxious  not  only  to  re- 
pair, but  to  improve.  He  saw  clearly  that,  to  gain 
power  and  to  save  expense,  it  was  necessary  to  in- 
vent some  plan  by  which  the  steam  might  be  rapidly 
condensed,  and  he  determined  to  try  whether  his 
boyish  experiments  might  not  at  last  be  turned  to 
some  practical  account.  To  ensure  the  success  of 
his  plan,  it  was  necessary  to  find  some  method  of 
preventing  the  waste  of  steam  in  the  cylinder ;  and 
it  occurred  to  him  that  this  might  be  successfully 
done  by  condensing  the  steam  in  a  separate  vessel, 
which  should  communicate,  by  means  of  a  tube, 
with  the  cylinder  :  thus  the  cylinder  itself  might  be 
kept  always  to  one  equal  temperature,  and  there 
would  be  no  waste  of  the  steam  by  the  necessity  for 
cooling  it.' 

1 1  am  not  quite  sure  that  I  understand  what  you 
mean/  said  Arthur  thoughtfully. 

'Wait  one  moment,  mamma,  if  you  please/  said 
Mr.  Grenville.  'I  think  I  can  show  Arthur  a  dia- 
gram, which  will  make  what  you  have  said  clearer 
to  him ;'  and  going  to  the  bookcase,  Mr.  Grenville 


28  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 


References  to  Steam- Engine.  29 

REFERENCES  TO  THE  SECTION  OF  WATTS 
STEAM-ENGINE. 

A  The  boiler,  with  the  furnace  beneath. 

B  A  pipe  leading  from  the  boiler,  and  connecting  it  with  the 
cylinder  C. 

D  The  piston  and  rod.  (The  piston  is  the  lower  part,  which 
fits  into  the  cylinder.)  The  pipe  B  is  so  contrived  that  it  can 
admit  steam  from  the  boiler  into  the  cylinder,  either  above  or 
below  the  piston,  alternately.  Next,  observe  a  vessel  sur- 
rounded by  cold  water,  and  connected  by  a  pipe  with  the 
cylinder. 

S  The  tube  of  a  pump  on  the  common  principle,  having  its 
piston  and  rod  connected  with  the  great  beam  :  this  beam 
moves  on  a  centre. 

V  A  pump  supplying  the  vessel  of  cold  water  referred  to 
above. 

T  The  connecting  tube  from  the  pump  S,  to  convey  the  water 
into  the  boiler. 

G  The  fly-wheel  of  cast  iron,  and  of  great  weight,  which,  as 
it  revolves,  makes  the  motion  of  the  whole  engine  uniform. 

H  The  sun  and  planet  wheels. 

The  communication  being  opened  from  the  boiler  to  the 
under  part  of  the  steam  cylinder  C,  the  steam  forces  the  piston 
up,  and  at  the  same  time  the  air  pump  P  causing  a  vacuum  in 
the  condenser  connected  with  it,  the  steam  rushes  into  the 
condenser,  and  now  a  vacuum  is  formed  beneath  the  piston,  at 
which  moment  the  steam  enters  above  the  piston,  and  is  in  like 
manner  drawn  off  and  condensed ;  and  thus  the  pressure  of 
the  steam  acting  alternately  on  the  under  and  upper  sides  of 
the  piston,  a  reciprocating  motion  is  given  to  the  beam,  which 
will  continue  as  long  as  the  steam  is  produced. 


30  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

took  down  a  volume,  and  opening  it  at  a  plate 
representing  a  steam-engine,  he  proceeded  to  ex- 
plain to  the  children  its  different  parts.  (See  dia- 
gram and  references,  pages  28,  29.) 

1  Oh,  thank  you,  papa/  exclaimed  Arthur,  as  Mr. 
Grenville  finished  his  description  ;  'I  understand  all 
that  mamma  has  been  saying  much  better  now.' 

'You  must  remember,  however/  continued  Mr. 
Grenville,  '  that  the  drawing  I  have  just  been  show- 
ing you,  is  of  an  engine  in  a  much  more  perfected 
state  than  it  was  at  the  time  of  which  mamma  is 
speaking.  We  must  not  interrupt  her  longer  now, 
but  after  dinner  I  will  show  you  some  drawings  of 
the  engine  in  its  various  stages  of  improvement ; 
then  you  will  be  better  able  to  judge  of  the  won- 
derful talent  of  our  great  engineer/ 

'  Oh,  thank  you,  papa,  I  shall  like  that/  exclaimed 
Arthur.  /Go  on,  mamma/ 

'Watt  having  satisfied  himself/  continued  Mrs. 
Grenville,  'of  the  accuracy  of  his  new  idea,  set 
steadily  to  work  to  reduce  it  to  practice,  and  after 
months  of  patient  labour  constructed  a  model,  which 
far  more  than  realized  his  most  sanguine  expecta- 
tion. But  the  great  difficulty  was  how  to  make  it 
publicly  known.  Watt  was  still  a  very  poor  man : 
work  as  hard  as  he  would,  he  thought  it  a  good 
year  in  which  he  cleared  £200 ;  and  having  a  wife 
and  children  to  support,  there  was  not  much  to 
spend  on  scientific  experiments.  Fortunately  he 


Death  of  Mrs.  Watt.  31 

was  introduced  to  a  Dr.  Roebuck — a  very  able  man 
— who  had  established  some  iron-works  near  Glas- 
gow. Dr.  Roebuck  saw  at  a  glance  the  value  of 
the  discovery  which  Watt  had  made,  and  readily 
agreed  to  enter  into  a  partnership  with  him,  by 
which  he  was  to  bear  the  expenses,  whilst  Watt 
superintended  the  construction  and  working  of  the 
engines.  This  arrangement  would  have  answered 
admirably,  had  not  Dr.  Roebuck's  affairs  become 
suddenly  so  involved  that  he  was  utterly  unable  to 
carry  out  his  share  of  the  agreement ;  and  Watt 
found  himself  in  a  worse  situation  than  before,  as 
some  idea  of  his  great  improvement  having  got 
abroad,  other  mechanics  were  endeavouring  to  fore- 
stall his  invention,  and  rob  him  both  of  fame  and 
profit,  before  he  could  protect  himself  by  taking 
out  the  necessary  patents.  In  the  midst  of  all  this 
trouble  a  greater  affliction  still  befell  poor  Watt, 
in  the  sudden  death  of  his  wife, — a  clever,  high- 
spirited,  loving  woman,  admirably  fitted  by  her 
peculiarly  hopeful  character  to  cheer  on  her  hus- 
band, who  was  apt,  when  left  to  himself,  to  lose 
heart,  and  be  easily  depressed.  Her  death  was  a 
terrible  loss  to  him,  and  one  which  for  years  he 
sincerely  mourned.  In  reading  a  memoir  which  has 
been  lately  published  of  Mrs.  Schimmelpenninck,  I 
found  a  curious  anecdote  relating  to  this  sad  period 
of  Watt's  life.  She  says  that  he  was  staying  with 
an  intimate  friend,  a  Mr.  Macgregor,  whose  little 


32  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

daughter  Anne,  being  one  day  in  the  room  with  her 
father,  was  much  touched  by  seeing  Watt's  grief; 
and  hearing  the  sorrow  he  expressed  for  his  wife's 
death,  she  went  softly  up  to  him,  and  laying  her 
hand  on  his  arm,  she  looked  up  in  his  face,  her 
eyes  quite  full  of  tears,  and  said  very  gently,  "  Do 
not  cry,  I  will  be  your  little  wife,  and  I  will  make 
you  so  happy."  Touched  with  the  child's  gentle 
sympathy,  Watt  took  her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her, 
little  thinking  that,  when  some  years  had  passed 
away,  her  words  were  indeed  to  be  fulfilled,  and 
that  loving  child  was  to  become  his  devoted  wife 
— the  charm  and  comfort  of  his  declining  days. 

'Happily  for  Watt,  just  at  the  very  time  when, 
overwhelmed  with  anxieties,  he  might  have  lost  all 
interest  even  in  his  favourite  pursuits,  he  was  roused 
to  fresh  exertion  by  the  offer  of  a  very  clever  man, 
a  Mr.  Boulton,  owner  of  extensive  iron-works  near 
Birmingham,  to  buy  up  all  Dr.  Roebuck's  share  in 
the  partnership,  and  then  to  enter  into  an  agree- 
ment with  Watt  himself,  which  would  enable  the 
engineer  to  carry  out  his  plans  under  the  greatest 
possible  advantages.  This  was  far  too  good  an  offer 
to  be  refused,  for  not  only  was  Mr.  Boulton  a  man 
of  wealth  and  intelligence,  but  he  was  possessed  of 
a  singularly  noble  nature,  just  fitted  to  appreciate  a 
character  like  that  of  Watt's.  Some  years  before 
this  time,  in  1768,  Mr.  Watt  had  paid  Mr.  Boulton 
a  visit  at  his  iron-works  at  Soho  :  they  had  had  long 


Watt's  Partnership  with  Boulton.        33 

conversations  on  the  steam-engine,  and  Mr.  Boulton 
had  been  particularly  struck  with  many  of  Watt's 
observations  as  to  the  improvements  he  meant  to 
carry  out.  Watt's  plans  were  interfered  with,  as 
I  have  told  you,  by  the  embarrassments  of  Dr. 
Roebuck ;  and  very  possibly  Boulton  may  have 
thought  he  had  relinquished  his  designs,  and  there- 
fore he  had  better  try  and  improve  his  own  engines 
himself.  It  happened  that  a  friend  of  Watt's,  Pro- 
fessor Robison,  paid  Mr.  Boulton  a  visit  at  Soho. 
In  course  of  conversation,  Robison  mentioned  that 
Watt  was  intending  to  take  out  a  patent  for  such 
and  such  inventions.  Boulton  took  no  notice  at  the 
time,  but  after  dinner,  as  he  was  accompanying  the 
professor  round  the  works,  he  pointed  to  some  brick- 
work just  erecting.  "You  have  stopped  that,"  he 
said  with  a  quiet  smile. 

'"How  so?"  asked  Mr.  Robison. 

'"  Because  I  was  just  going  to  erect  an  engine 
there,  not  quite  like  what  we  have  been  talking 
about,  but  still  with  a  variety  of  improvements, 
founded  on  those  Mr.  Watt  mentioned  in  conversa- 
tion. If  he  means  to  take  out  a  patent,  it  would 
not  be  fair  in  me  to  construct  my  engine  without  his 
consent." 

'  A  partnership  between  two  such  men  as  Watt 
and  Boulton  was  sure  to  succeed,  and  through  life 
it  was  advantageous  to  their  characters,  and  drew 
out  the  best  qualities  of  each.  As  soon  as  all 

c 


34  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

arrangements  could  be  made,  Watt  left  Glasgow, 
and  settled  at  Birmingham,  which  town  became 
from  henceforth  his  permanent  home.  He  had  not, 
however,  been  long  established  in  his  new  abode, 
when  he  received  a  most  flattering  offer  from  the 
Russian  Government,  asking  him  to  go  out  and 
superintend  some  engineering  works  which  were 
then  in  progress.  Had  this  offer  arrived  a  little 
sooner,  it  is  only  too  probable  that  Watt,  tempted 
by  the  salary  of  ;£iooo  a  year,  might  have  been  in- 
duced to  accept  the  appointment,  and  England 
would  have  been  deprived  of  one  of  her  most  valu- 
able men ;  but,  fortunately,  Watt  was  much  too 
happy  at  Birmingham,  in  the  midst  of  pursuits  and 
surrounded  by  society  exactly  to  his  taste,  to  care 
to  relinquish  them  for  an  immediate  increase  either 
of  fame  or  of  fortune.  He  declined  the  tempting 
offer,  and  set  to  work  even  more  diligently  than 
before,  to  attain  the  one  great  object  of  his  ambition 
— the  perfecting  of  the  steam-engine. 

'  Having  once  assured  himself  that  his  principle 
was  right,  and  that,  by  the  condensation  of  steam  in 
a  separate  vessel,  the  action  of  the  piston  within  the 
cylinder  could  be  rapidly  and  regularly  performed 
with  the  smallest  possible  waste  of  fuel,  all  the  rest 
was  comparatively  easy.  One  improvement  sug- 
gested another,  until  at  length  an  engine  was  built, 
so  perfect  that  it  did  more  than  perform  its  allotted 
work,  for  it  succeeded  in  upsetting  the  ignorant  and 


Improvements  in  Watt's  Steam-Engine.    35 

vexatious  opposition  that  Watt  had  hitherto  met  with 
in  all  his  undertakings.  Men  at  length  recognised 
the  wonderful  power  thus  placed  at  their  command, 
and  began  to  have  some  notion  of  the  change  which 
in  a  short  time  was  to  be  effected  in  all  the  mercan- 
tile transactions  of  Great  Britain.  Whilst,  however, 
people  are  extremely  delighted  with  an  invention 
from  which  they  expect  to  derive  great  use  or  profit, 
they  are  very  seldom  grateful  to  the  inventor  himself, 
or  anxious  that  he  should  reap  the  benefit  of  his  own 
success.  No  sooner  was  the  superiority  of  Watt's 
engine  fully  admitted,  than  engineers  started  up  on 
all  sides,  bringing  out  what  they  were  pleased  to 
call  improvements  of  their  own,  but  which  were  in 
reality  nothing  but  imitations,  and  often  bad  ones, 
of  their  great  master.  The  consequence  was,  Watt 
and  Boulton  were  obliged  to  protect  themselves  by 
taking  out  patents  for  every  improvement,  however 
trifling,  which  they  introduced  into  their  engine 
and  as  Watt's  fertile  genius  was  for  ever  devising 
something  new,  these  patents  became  a  most  serious 
expense ;  and  not  only  this,  but  they  involved  the 
partners  in  endless  lawsuits,  the  vexation  and  an- 
noyance of  which  were  even  harder  to  bear  than  the 
actual  loss  of  profits,  until  at  last  Watt  wrote  in 
despair,  "  That  he  almost  wished  that  he  had  never 
made  any  inventions  at  all,  for  that  nine-tenths  of 
mankind  were  knaves,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
remaining  one-tenth  fools."  However,  his  better 


36  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

nature  conquered,  and  he  added,  "  All  will  be  well 
in  the  end ;  we  must  do  the  best  we  can  on  earth, 
and  look  for  rest  in  heaven." 

( Never  having  been  of  a  strong  constitution,  it  is 
only  wonderful  that  Watt  was  able  to  bear  the  im- 
mense amount  of  work  thrown  upon  him  at  this  time. 
He  used  sometimes  to  laugh,  and  say  it  was  a  pity 
he  could  not  be  cut  up  into  little  bits  and  sent  into 
all  the  different  parts  of  England,  for  he  found  there 
was  no  use  in  sending  away  his  engines,  even  with 
the  clearest  directions,  and  under  the  charge  of  his 
most  intelligent  workmen,  without  he  himself  went 
with  them  to  superintend  their  erection.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  to  his  great  annoyance  he  found 
himself  obliged  to  be  constantly  absent  from  home  ; 
and  amongst  other  places,  he  was  kept  for  weeks 
together  in  Cornwall,  a  country  which  he  peculiarly 
disliked,  and  which  seemed  to  him  the  Ultima  Thute 
of  civilisation.  The  rough  manners  of  the  Cornish 
people  jarred  against  his  gentler  nature,  and  he, 
naturally  enough,  missed  all  the  scientific  society  to 
which  he  was  accustomed  in  his  own  home.  So 
little  did  even  the  owners  of  the  mines  understand 
of  the  true  principles  of  science,  that  when  Watt, 
having  erected  an  engine  somewhere  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Truro,  was  very  busily  trying  to  rectify 
the  extreme  noise  that  the  engine  made  in  working, 
its  owner  came  and  begged  him  to  desist,  seeming 
to  imagine  that  if  the  noise  lessened,  the  engine's 


Popularity  of  Watt's  Engines.  37 

power  must  of  necessity  lessen  with  it.  No  wonder 
Watt  wrote  to  Mr.  Boulton,  half  amused  and  half 
angry  :  "  The  velocity,  violence,  magnitude,  and  hor- 
rible noise  of  the  engine  seem  to  give  universal  satis- 
faction ;"  and  then,  alluding  to  the  strange  request 
that  the  gentleman  had  made  to  him,  he  added: 
"  As  he  cannot  sleep  without  the  engine  seems  quite 
furious,  I  have  left  it  to  the  engineman ;"  and  it 
was  allowed  to  thunder  on,  to  the  delight  of  all 
beholders. 

'  Watt,  however,  was  not  a  man  to  let  a  desire  for 
personal  comfort  interfere  with  what  he  considered 
to  be  his  duty.  In  spite,  therefore,  of  his  dislike  to 
the  Cornish  work-people,  whom  he  declared  to  be 
such  barbarians  as  even  to  eat  the  grease  intended 
for  their  engines,  he  stayed  steadily  on  where  he  saw 
his  presence  was  needful ;  and  he  had  his  reward. 
Whilst  other  persons'  engines  were  performing  the 
most  extraordinary  feats, — "some,"  as  he  said,  "stand- 
ing still  every  ten  minutes  to  snore  and  snort ;  others 
of  such  a  gentlemanly  turn  of  mind,  that  they  would 
go  when  they  had  nothing  to  do,  and  stand  still  the 
instant  they  were  required  to  work ;  and  others  again, 
blowing  up  altogether,  destroying  themselves  and 
everything  near  them," — Watt's  engines  were  every 
day  gathering  fame  and  reputation :  mines  which 
had  been  thought  to  be  hopelessly  flooded  were 
pumped  perfectly  dry,  and  facilities  given  to  the 
workmen  such  as  had  never  entered  into  their 


38  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

wildest  imaginations  ;  and  in  a  short  time  there  was 
only  one  mine  in  Cornwall  that  was  not  worked  by 
Watt's  engines/ 

'  But,  mamma/  said  Ernest,  'were  the  engines  that 
Watt  invented  only  meant  for  mines  ?  did  he  not 
make  railway  engines,  and  things  of  that  kind  ?' 

'  No/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville  ;  '  the  construction  of 
the  locomotive  comes  under  quite  a  different  branch 
of  his  art ;  and  the  working  out  of  this  fresh  problem 
was  reserved  for  another  brain,  as  vigorous  and  as 
fertile  in  inventions  as  Watt's  own :  not  but  that 
Watt  had  some  notion  of  the  great  discovery  on  the 
verge  of  which  he  stood.  He  felt  convinced  that  all 
that  he  had  done  was  only  the  beginning  of  changes; 
and  his  attention  was  particularly  drawn  to  the  sub- 
ject of  locomotives  by  a  letter  from  his  friend  Mr. 
Edgeworth,  in  which  he  said  "he  felt  sure  that  in 
time  steam  would  take  the  place  of  post-horses,  and 
the  best  turnpike  road  would  be  an  iron  one."  But 
the  time  had  not  yet  come  for  such  a  bold  idea  to  be 
acceptable.  At  this  moment  the  thoughts  of  the 
English  people  were  intent  on  Napoleon  and  his 
doings.  They  had  too  much  to  do  to  defend  their 
own,  to  be  able  to  give  their  attention  to  the  startling 
propositions  of  a  few  scientific  men ;  and  so  Watt 
made  his  little  model  of  a  locomotive,  and  it  reposed 
tranquilly  in  the  workshop  at  Soho ;  and  people 
looked  at  it,  and  little  dreamed  of  the  wonderful 
change  which  in  a  few  short  years  it  was  to  effect  in 


A  Stone-Carving  Machine.  39 

the  whole  social  and  commercial  world.  It  would 
be  endless  to  endeavour  to  describe  to  you  all  the 
various  machines  which  Watt  delighted  to  contrive  : 
it  was  the  great  amusement  of  his  old  age.  One  of 
these  ingenious  toys  was  an  arithmetical  machine/ 

'  Oh,  and  would  it  do  sums  all  by  itself  ? '  inter- 
rupted Charles.  '  Do  not  I  wish  I  had  got  one  in 
the  study  ?  would  it  not  be  jolly  ?' 

'Very  pleasant,  indeed,  I  daresay/  replied  Mrs. 
Grenville,  'but  not  very  improving.  Another  of 
these  machines,  and  one  on  which  he  bestowed 
much  time  and  thought,  was  intended  to  supersede 
the  labour  of  chiselling.  He  believed  he  could  make 
it  do  its  work  so  accurately  that  it  would  carve  the 
stone  entirely  by  itself ;  and  he  was  charmed  when 
he  and  his  engine  turned  out,  between  them,  a  really 
beautiful  bust  in  alabaster  of  Sappho.  He  did  not 
live  long  enough  to  perfect  his  invention ;  but  it  is 
from  the  model  of  "his  Benjamin,  his  youngest  and 
best  beloved,"  as  he  called  it,  that  mechanics  of  the 
present  day  have  made  the  machines  which  now 
carve  wood  and  other  substances  with  wonderful 
rapidity,  and  almost  with  the  precision  of  the  hand. 
In  the  enjoyment  of  these  his  favourite  pursuits, 
Watt  passed  all  the  last  years  of  a  happy  and 
peaceful  old  age.  One  deep  sorrow  he  had  in  the 
loss  of  his  son  Gregory,  a  young  man  of  unusual 
talent,  who  died  when  he  was  only  twenty-seven  ; 
just  at  the  moment  when  Watt  was  most  rejoicing 


40  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

in  the  promise  of  his  future  celebrity  and  success. 
But,  happily  for  him,  he  did  not  sorrow  as  one  who 
had  no  hope ;  he  could  rest  in  the  assurance  that  he 
whom  he  had  loved  so  fondly  and  so  proudly,  "  was 
now  rejoicing  in  another  and  a  better  world,  free 
from  our  cares,  griefs,  and  infirmities ;  and  that  his 
name,  his  merits,  and  his  virtues  would  still  live 
amongst  all  those  who  had  ever  known  him."  In 
the  same  calm  spirit  of  resignation  he  awaited  his 
own  end.  Always  cheerful,  entering  into  the  amuse- 
ments and  pursuits  of  those  around  him,  and  with 
affections  and  sympathies  as  warm  at  eighty-four 
as  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  charmed  every  one  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact.  Philosophers,  poets,  men 
of  letters,  mechanics,  the  idle  or  the  busy,  rich  or 
poor,  all  delighted  in  James  Watt,  and  thought  the 
day  a  happy  one  in  which  he  made  one  of  their 
party  ;  and  when  at  length,  on  the  igth  of  August 
1819,  he  calmly  and  tranquilly  breathed  his  last,  his 
death  left  a  blank  which  could  not  easily  be  supplied. 
Statues  were  erected  to  his  memory,  and  the  wisest 
and  best  men  of  all  nations  mourned  his  loss.  But 
we  may  hope  that  they  should  rather  have  rejoiced, 
for  that  he  is  now  in  possession  of  such  happiness, 
that  he  would  not  relinquish  its  smallest  particle  for 
the  possession  even  of  an  earthly  fame  which  will 
endure  whilst  the  world  lasts/ 

'And  he  was  once  a  poor  little,  delicate,  weak 
boy/  said  Arthur  thoughtfully. 


Youthful  Hopes  and  Fears.  41 

'Yes,  my  love/  replied  his  mother,  knowing  well 
what  was  passing  through  his  mind  ;  *  God  chooses 
the  feeble  as  well  as  the  vigorous  to  work  in  His 
vineyard.  His  temple  is  made  of  many  stones  ; 
there  is  room  for  all/ 

*  Never  fear,  Arthur/  said  Charles ;  '  we  shall  see 
you  a  second  James  Watt  one  of  these  days/ 

'  I  am  afraid  not/  replied  Arthur  with  a  half  sigh  ; 
*  and  besides,  by  the  time  that  I  am  grown  up,  there 
will  be  nothing  left  to  invent/ 

*  I  do  not  think  that  you  need   disturb  yourself 
about  that/  said  his  father.    'The  more  that  is  known 
on  all  scientific  subjects,  the  wider  still,  the  field  opens 
for  fresh  experiments.     Of  many  of  the  wonderful 
agencies  which  God  in  His  wisdom  has  given  to 
nature  for  the  good  of  man,  we  at  present,  com- 
paratively speaking,  know  but  little ;   and   it  has 
often  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs 
of  the  omniscient  presence  of  the  Creator,  that  men 
are  so  gradually  permitted  glimpses  of  that  know- 
ledge which  can  only  be  perfected  in  the  presence  of 
God/ 

'And  there  is  another  point  which  seems  to  me 
equally  remarkable/  added  Mrs.  Grenville,  '  that 
every  fresh  discovery  just  comes  to  meet  the  rising 
want.  It  is  when  men  have  multiplied  upon  the 
earth, — when  their  necessities  have  so  greatly  in- 
creased that  it  seems  impossible  to  say  how  they 
are  to  be  met, — then  come  new  powers  to  light, 


42  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

supplying  all  deficiencies,  and  opening  out  fresh 
means  of  support  to  all.  However,  to  enter  into  a 
discussion  on  the  power,  the  wisdom,  the  overruling 
providence  of  God,  would,  I  am  afraid,  take  us  into 
subjects  too  deep  even  for  our  earnest  little  philo- 
sopher/ added  Mrs.  Grenville,  as  her  eyes  caught 
the  expression  of  Arthur's,  which  were  fixed  upon 
her  with  a  calm,  thoughtful  look.  'You  will  find 
life  all  too  short  to  understand  these  subjects,  and 
eternity  scarce  long  enough  to  grasp  their  full 
meaning/ 

'But  I  like  to  think  about  them,  mamma/  said 
Arthur. 

'  And  I  like  that  you  should  do  so/  replied  Mrs. 
Grenville, '  but  not  to  perplex  and  over-excite  your 
brain.  You  must  run  away  now,  and  have  a  good 
game  of  play  with  Charles  and  Ernest :  that  will  be 
infinitely  better  for  you  than  pondering  over  the 
wonderful  discoveries  with  which  you  mean  to  elec- 
trify the  world/ 

'  Mamma,  you  are  laughing  at  me.' 

'  No,  indeed  I  am  not ;  but  I  want  you  to  have  a 
good  run  before  the  sun  sets  ;  and  besides,  I  am 
going  out  immediately  with  papa.' 

'  Papa,  you  have  not  forgotten  your  promise,  have 
you  ?'  asked  Arthur,  as  he  came  into  the  dining- 
room  after  dinner,  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day. 

'  No,  that  papa  has  not/  exclaimed  Ernest ;  '  look 


Mr.  Grenville  explains  the  Steam-Engine.  43 

at  those  great  books  on  the  sideboard.  I  know 
what  they  are  :  they  are  all  those  plans  of  the  en- 
gines Mr.  Elliott  sent  papa/ 

'  You  may  bring  them  here,  Ernest/ 

Ernest  was  not  long  in  obeying ;  and  Mr.  Gren- 
ville showed  the  children  the  different  plates,  de- 
scribing the  various  parts  of  the  steam-engine,  and 
explaining  the  gradual  improvements  made  from  the 
time  of  Solomon  de  Caus,  until  the  last  great  dis- 
covery of  the  condenser  by  Watt. 

'  It  is  all  very  well/  said  Charles,  '  to  look  at  these 
prints,  and  I  have  looked  at  them  as  attentively  as 
possible,  but  I  cannot  make  much  out  of  them.  If 
I  could  see  one  real  live  engine  at  work,  it  would  be 
worth  a  thousand  drawings.' 

'  Mamma,  what  are  you  laughing  at  ? '  asked  Er- 
nest, looking  up  in  his  mother's  face. 

'  I — I  was  not  laughing  at  all.' 

'  Not  out  loud  ;  but  your  eyes  were  laughing,  just 
as  they  always  do  when  you  know  of  some  pleasant 
surprise/ 

'Ah,  mamma's  eyes  are  sad  tell-tales,'  said  Mr. 
Grenville ;  '  so,  as  she  has  betrayed  half  my  secret,  I 
may  as  well  let  you  know  the  remainder:  that  I  have 
been  so  pleased  with  the  report  Mr.  Harvey  makes 
of  your  conduct  since  I  have  been  away,  that,  as  a 
reward,  I  have  written  to-day  to  Mr.  Elliott,  to  ask 
whether  I  may  take  you  all  to  pay  a  visit  to  his 
copper-mines,  and  there  you  will  be  able  to  judge 


44  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

for  yourselves  of  these  wonderful  engines  of  which 
mamma  has  been  telling  you/ 

*  Oh  uncle ! '  '  Oh  papa,  how  charming  ! '  '  Oh, 
that  will  be  fun  ! '  exclaimed  the  children  in  differ- 
ent tones ;  and  Arthur  added,  '  But  mamma  is  going 
too,  I  hope  ? ' 

'  Certainly,  our  party  would  be  very  incomplete 
without  mamma/ 

'  And  how  are  we  to  go,  uncle  ? '  said  Charles. 
'  Why,  Mr.  Elliott's  mines  are  right  at  the  other  end 
of  Cornwall,  are  they  not  ?  We  shall  be  ever  such 
a  time  on  the  road/ 

'  We  must  go  by  train  as  far  as  we  can,  and  then 
post  the  rest  of  the  way/ 

'  Oh,  what  glorious  fun  !  I  do  like  posting  so  ! ' 
exclaimed  Charles.  'And  I  shall  go  on  the  box 
with  Kempton  ;  that  is  the  best  place/ 

'  Others  may  think  so  besides  yourself,  Charles/ 
said  his  aunt  rather  gravely. 

Charles  blushed.  '  Well,  part  of  the  way,  Aunt 
Helen/ 

'  That  is  quite  a  different  thing  ;  we  will  see  about 
that  when  the  time  comes :  at  present  we  have  not 
even  got  Mr.  Elliott's  answer/ 

'  Oh,  it  is  sure  to  be  all  right.  Do  not  you  think 
so,  mamma  ?  Mr.  Elliott  almost  always  does  just 
what  papa  likes/ 

'  I  have  not  very  much  fear,  certainly,  about  his 
answer  ;  only  it  is  just  possible  Mr.  Elliott  may  not 


Excitement  of  the  Children.  45 

be  at  home,  in  which  case  we  might  be  obliged  to 
delay  our  visit ;  so  I  advise  you  not  to  count  upon 
it  until  we  are  quite  certain/ 

It  was  easy  to  give  this  advice,  but  it  was  difficult 
to  follow  it.  The  children  could  think  and  talk  of 
nothing  else ;  and  so  endless  were  their  inquiries  as 
to  where  they  were  to  go  and  what  they  were  to  see, 
that  at  last  Mr.  Grenville's  patience  was  fairly  ex- 
hausted, and  Mrs.  Grenville  was  obliged  to  carry 
them  off  with  her  to  the  drawing-room.  '  Ah,  papa/ 
she  said  as  she  passed  him,  '  I  warned  you  of  this, 
and  you  would  not  believe  me :  see  what  comes  of 
not  being  able  to  keep  your  own  counsel/ 

'  And  this  to  me ! '  returned  Mr.  Grenville  ;  '  you 
who  actually  betrayed  my  secret/ 

'  Did  I  ?  Well,  I  will  make  you  the  only  repara- 
tion I  can,  by  leaving  you  to  peace  and  quietness, 
your  wine  and  walnuts  ; '  and  closing  the  dining- 
room  door,  Mrs.  Grenville  followed  the  children  into 
the  drawing-room. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  spinning-jenny — Hargraves — Arkwright. 

was  Tuesday :  on  Thursday  an  answer 
might  be  received  from  Mr.  Elliott.  Oh 
how  anxiously  the  children  looked  for  the 
arrival  of  the  post-bag !  There  it  lay  on 
the  breakfast-table,  looking  so  fat  and  comfortable. 
Was  the  much-wished-for  letter  among  its  contents  ? 
Alas !  no.  The  bag  was  gradually  emptied,  but  no 
Cornwall  post-mark  was  to  be  seen ;  and  although 
Charles  made  a  secret  search,  hoping  that  the  letter 
might  be  hiding  itself  in  some  out-of-the-way  corner, 
it  was  all  of  no  use:  clearly  Mr.  Elliott  had  not 
written.  The  children  tried  not  to  express  their 
disappointment,  at  least  whilst  Mr.  Grenville  was  in 
the  room ;  but  they  imparted  their  hopes  and  fears 
to  Mrs.  Grenville,  as  soon  as  they  found  themselves 
alone  with  her.  Mrs.  Grenville,  however,  could  only 
bid  them  have  patience.  Mr.  Elliott  was  sure  to 
write  as  soon  as  he  was  at  liberty :  in  the  meantime 
they  must  amuse  themselves  with  other  pursuits, 


48  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  not  tease  their  papa.  To  do  the  children  jus- 
tice, they  tried  hard  to  be  patient ;  and  even  when 
Saturday  morning  came,  and  still  no  letter,  they 
only  looked  forward  to  Monday,  and  hoped  cheer- 
fully on.  They  met  with  their  reward  :  on  Monday 
arrived  the  anxiously  desired  despatch.  Mr.  Elliott 
had  been  in  London,  and  had  only  just  found  Mr. 
Grenville's  letter  on  his  return  home.  '  He  did  not 
lose  a  post  in  saying  how  delighted  he  should  be  to 
do  the  honours  of  his  mine  to  as  large  a  party  as 
Mr.  Grenville  liked  to  bring.  He  was  only  sorry 
his  house  was  not  large  enough  to  accommodate  all 
the  party.  He  could  take  in  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville ;  and  the  children,  he  had  no  doubt,  would  do 
very  well  at  a  hotel  close  by.  He  had  no  engage- 
ments ;  they  might  come  as  soon  as  they  liked/ 
Nothing  could  be  more  charming ;  and  the  children's 
delight  reached  its  climax  when  Mr.  Grenville  said 
they  should  go  that  day,  by  an  afternoon  train,  to 
Plymouth ;  sleep  at  one  of  the  hotels  there,  and  be 
ready  for  an  early  start  the  next  morning.  There 
was  something  so  very  delightful  in  the  idea  of  a 
late  dinner  at  the  hotel  with  papa  and  mamma — a 
pleasure  they  had  never  had  before  ;  '  why,  it  would 
be  almost  as  good  fun  as  seeing  the  engine/  There 
are  some  things,  however,  pleasanter  in  the  antici- 
pation than  in  the  reality,  and  a  late  dinner  is  one 
of  them.  In  spite  of  the  children's  constant  asser- 
tions, '  They  were  not  one  bit  sleepy/  it  soon  became 


The  Journey  to  Cornwall.  49 

evident  that  the  excitement,  the  journey,  and  the 
dinner  were  too  much  for  their  powers  of  endurance  ; 
they  could  not  keep  their  eyes  open,  and  so  Mrs. 
Grenville  sent  them  off  early  to  bed,  that  a  good 
long  night's  rest  might  set  them  up  for  the  fatigues 
and  pleasures  of  the  coming  day.  Very  early  the 
children  were  astir,  to  see  what  sort  of  a  morning  it 
was.  Nothing  could  be  more  beautiful, — just  enough 
of  summer  left  to  make  it  warm  and  bright,  and  yet 
with  that  clear  crispness  in  the  air  which  makes  the 
early  autumn  so  fresh  and  invigorating.  At  present 
there  was  a  slight  mist  hanging  over  the  distant 
view.  But  that  was  all  right ;  it  would  clear  off  and 
be  all  the  more  beautiful  day, — at  least  that  was 
Kempton's  opinion,  as,  punctual  to  a  moment,  he 
brought  the  carriage  round  to  the  hotel  door ;  and  in 
a  few  minutes  after,  the  little  party  drove  cheerily 
off,  Ernest  and  Charles  on  the  box  with  Kempton, 
Mary  and  Arthur  inside  the  carriage  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Grenville.  At  first  the  children's  exuberant 
spirits  broke  out  into  all  sorts  of  fun  and  nonsense, 
then  sobered  down  into  occasional  exclamations  of 
astonishment  or  delight  as  the  carriage  passed  any- 
thing unusually  novel  or  beautiful ;  and  at  length,  by 
the  time  half  their  journey  was  accomplished,  they 
had  come  to  the  conclusion,  '  Mamma  was  right,  after 
all ;  travelling  was  rather  tiring,  even  in  an  easy 
carriage  and  with  four  good  posters/  A  substantial 
dinner  in  the  middle  of  the  day  helped  to  restore 

D 


50  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

their  energies ;  but  still  all  the  party  were  glad  to 
find  themselves,  before  night,  in  the  comfortable 
rooms  Mr.  Elliott  had  engaged  for  them  at  Redruth, 
— a  warm,  cosy  fire  in  the  grate,  and  a  delicious-look- 
ing tea  spread  out  upon  the  table,  with  a  profusion 
of  Cornish  delicacies.  A  good  night's  rest  worked 
wonders  as  a  restorative  ;  and  in  the  highest  possible 
spirits,  the  children  started,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Elliott  and  their  parents,  to  pay  their  eagerly  antici- 
pated visit  to  the  mine.  Greatly,  however,  as  their 
expectations  had  been  raised,  they  found  the  reality 
even  more  wonderful  than  they  had  expected,  and 
thought  they  never  should  be  tired  of  all  the  mar- 
vels of  the  strange  new  world  in  the  midst  of  which 
they  suddenly  found  themselves, — such  crowds  of 
people,  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  all  so 
actively  employed ;  no  one  interfering  with  the 
other,  and  all  doing  their  allotted  portion  of  the  one 
great  work.  And  then  those  marvellous  machines : 
here  great  wheels  solemnly  and  slowly  revolving,  as 
if  fully  impressed  with  a  dignified  sense  of  their  own 
importance  ;  there  great  skeleton-looking  platforms, 
half  ashamed  of  their  nakedness,  and  of  the  perpetual 
groanings  of  the  iron  chains,  which  clanked  for  ever 
over  the  pulleys  as  they  bore  up  and  down  their 
appointed  loads  ;  and  then  the  underground  puffings, 
and  pantings,  and  roarings :  why,  what  was  going 
on  beneath  their  feet  must  be  even  more  wonderful 
than  that  at  which  they  were  now  looking. 


The  Copper-Mine.  5 1 

'  You  must  go  down  presently  and  judge  for  your- 
selves/ said  Mr.  Elliott. 

'  Oh  mamma,  I  may  go,  may  I  not  ?'  said  Arthur, 
as  he  looked  up  entreatingly  into  his  mother's  face. 

'  No,  my  love,  not  you  ;  you  must  stay  with  Mary 
and  me/ 

'  I  do  not  think  it  would  tire  him/  said  Mr.  Elliott ; 
'  we  can  get  down  so  much  more  easily  now  than  we 
did  when  you  were  last  here/ 

'  Can  you  ?     How  ?' 

'  Then,  if  you  remember,  we  went  down  by  ladders 
to  a  platform,  and  then  through  a  trap  door  to  an- 
other ladder/ 

'Oh  yes,  I  remember/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville;  'and 
my  terror,  likewise,  at  seeing  Henry  disappear.* 

'  Well,  but  now  we  have  got  a  new  plan,  and  an 
admirable  one  it  is.  It  was  originated  by  a  remark- 
ably clever  German  miner,  who  at  one  time,  when 
the  pumps  were  not  working  in  the  mine  where  he 
was  employed,  hit  upon  the  very  ingenious  idea  of 
making  the  pump  rods  employ  their  spare  time  in 
facilitating  the  ascent  and  descent  of  the  miners. 
He  so  arranged  it,  that  at  certain  intervals  there 
should  be  steps  and  firm  hand-holds  ;  the  rods  were 
set  in  motion  from  above ;  whilst  one  descended  the 
other  ascended,  and  the  miner  was  carried  to  a 
higher  or  lower  elevation,  simply  by  shifting  him- 
self from  one  bracket  to  the  other.  But  come  here, 
I  will  show  you  the  machine  at  work.  You  will 


5  2  The  Triumphs  of  Steam, 

understand  the  principle  of  the  thing  in  a  moment 
if  you  see  it,  and  you  will  judge  what  a  wonderful 
saving  of  fatigue  it  is  to  the  miners.  It  has  been 
very  much  improved,  however,  since  the  German 
first  conceived  the  idea.  Now  we  have  fixed  plat- 
forms at  intervals  of  twelve  feet,  and  in  many  re- 
spects the  machinery  has  been  simplified  and  per- 
fected ;  but  still  the  credit  of  the  discovery  is  due  to 
the  poor  miner.  Here — here  we  are  at  the  mouth  of 
the  shaft ;  now  you  can  see  for  yourselves  how  it  acts/ 

'  Oh  uncle,  how  funny !  do  look/  exclaimed 
Charles.  'Did  you  ever  see  anything  so  comical 
as  this  stream  of  men  going  up  and  down  ?  I  de- 
clare it  quite  dazzles  me  to  look  at  them.  Look, 
look !  as  fast  as  one  gets  off  the  platform,  another 
gets  on.  How  fast  they  come !  Oh,  I  shall  like 
going  down  there  ;  will  not  you,  uncle  ?' 

'  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  take  you  down,  as  you 
wish  so  much  to  go/  replied  his  uncle ;  '  but,  as  a 
matter  of  taste,  I  must  confess  I  like  the  pure  air 
better  than  the  interior  of  a  mine/ 

'  And  may  I  go,  mamma,  now  you  see  it  is  not  so 
difficult  as  it  used  to  be  ? '  asked  Arthur. 

But  Mrs.  Grenville  still  refused.  Arthur  was  so 
delicate,  that  she  did  not  wish  him  to  run  the  risk  of 
the  damps  and  chills  he  must  of  necessity  meet  with 
in  the  mine.  And  Arthur,  when  he  saw  his  mother 
really  disliked  that  he  should  go,  gave  up  his  plea- 
sure so  readily,  and  stayed  so  contentedly  by  her 


A  Clever  Dog.  53 

side,  that  Mr.  Elliott  was  more  than  ever  charmed 
with  the  quiet  little  intelligent  fellow,  and  invited 
him  to  spend  the  evening  at  his  house,  when  he 
promised  to  show  him  the  model  of  the  interior  of 
the  mine,  with  little  figures  at  work  just  as  they 
would  be  at  that  very  moment  in  reality  ;  '  and  you 
will  get  a  very  good  notion  of  it,  my  boy/  he  added. 

'  Yes,  and  without  the  damp  and  dirt  and  fatigue,' 
added  his  father.  '  You  are  a  lucky  fellow,  Arthur.' 

'  And  you  are  a  very  lazy  one !'  added  Mr.  Elliott 
laughingly,  as  he  prepared  to  follow  his  friend  and 
the  boys  into  the  mine. 

For  some  little  while  Mrs.  Grenville  stayed  with 
Arthur,  watching  the  ascent  and  descent  of  the 
miners  ;  then,  fearful  that  a  heavy  cloud  which  had 
gathered  overhead  might  suddenly  discharge  itself 
in  a  down-pour  of  rain,  she  called  him  away,  and 
hastened  on  towards  some  cottages,  where  she  felt 
she  could  take  refuge  if  necessary. 

'  Oh  mamma  ! '  exclaimed  Arthur,  '  look  at  that 
funny  dog.  Do  look  ;  what  is  he  doing  ?' 

Mrs.  Grenville  turned  in  the  direction  indicated. 
There,  in  the  middle  of  a  group  of  bright,  pretty 
children,  was  a  grave  Skye  terrier,  looking  irre- 
sistibly ludicrous,  as,  perched  upon  his  hind  legs,  his 
front  paws  hidden  by  the  masses  of  hair  which  fell 
over  his  head,  shutting  out  all  appearance  of  eyes, 
he  moved  backwards  and  forwards  at  the  word  of 
command,  like  some  strangely  animated  ball  of  silk. 


54  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

Seeing  that  their  little  favourite  had  attracted  the 
notice  of  the  strangers,  the  children  put  him  through 
all  his  tricks ;  and  Arthur  was  so  infinitely  diverted  in 
watching  the  exhibition,  that  the  threatening  shower 
was  forgotten,  and  it  was  not  until  some  large  drops 
fell  that  Mrs.  Grenville  suddenly  remembered  they 
were  still  some  way  from  shelter. 

'  Come,  Arthur,  come  quickly,  my  love ;  we  must 
make  haste,  and  get  under  cover.' 

'  Please  will  you  come  to  our  cottage  ?'  said  one  of 
the  children,  looking  up;  'it  is  quite  close.  Here, 
Shag,  Shag,  run  on  as  fast  as  you  can,  and  tell 
mother  a  lady  is  a-coming ;  run  on,  Shaggy,  I  will 
catch  you  ;'  and  as  if  he  understood  his  message,  on 
scampered  the  mass  of  hair,  barking  out  his  cheerful 
welcome,  whilst  his  little  mistress  ran  merrily  after, 
to  see  that  all  was  ready  for  her  guests. 

'  Come  in,  ma'am,  come  in,  you're  kindly  welcome/ 
said  a  clean,  decent-looking  woman,  as  she  held  open 
the  garden  gate ;  'you  be  only  just  in  time,  it  is  like 
to  be  a  heavy  rain/ 

'  It  is  indeed  !'  said  Mrs.  Grenville,  as  in  a  moment 
after  the  rain  swept  in  a  perfect  hurricane  across  the 
upper  moorland,  and  shut  out  even  the  great  tall 
engine  chimneys  from  their  view.  '  We  have  to  thank 
you  very  much  for  giving  us  shelter.  My  children 
were  so  amused  watching  your  funny  little  dog,  that 
we  forgot  all  about  the  rain/ 

'  Ah,  Shaggy,  he  is  a  great  pet ;  he  belonged  to 


Trust  in  God.  5  5 

my  poor  boy ;  and  now  he  is  gone,  we  let  the  dog 
have  pretty  much  his  own  way.  Father  says  we 
make  a  fool  of  him,  but  I  do  not  know;  Shag  seems 
to  understand  most  things  we  say.  I  often  think  he 
has  more  sense  than  many  a  Christian.' 

'  Has  your  son  been  long  dead  ?'  inquired  Mrs. 
Grenville  kindly. 

'  Oh,  bless  you,  ma'am,  he  is  not  dead,  he  is  away 
over  the  seas  getting  his  fortune.  It  is  what  he  was 
always  a-hankering  after,  so  I  ought  not  need  to 
fret ;  but  somehow  he  seems  lost  to  me  in  they 
Amerikay  mines,  just  as  much  as  if  he  was  in  his 
grave.  It  is  well  father  does  not  hear  me  say  so,  he 
would  be  blaming  of  me  for  my  want  of  faith  and 
gratitude  ;  and  right  enough  too,  for  it  was  all  along 
of  God's  mercy  and  goodness  that  Will  went  away/ 

'  How  was  it,  may  I  ask  ?'  inquired  Mrs.  Grenville, 
amused  by  the  woman's  natural  manner. 

'Ah,  sure  you  be  strangers  and  do  not  know,  but 
it  is  a  story  as  has  been  well  talked  on  in  all  these 
parts.  You  see,  ma'am,  my  Will  was  an  uncommon 
steady  young  man.  Although  I  say  it,  there  were  not 
many  like  him  in  the  mine, — regular  at  his  meeting, 
always  fond  of  his  Bible,  and  never  known  to  take  a 
drop  too  much.  Many  a  one  joked  him  and  called 
him  saint,  but  Will  did  not  mind  ;  he  used  to  take  it 
all  good-humouredly,  and  say  "  he  was  sure  the  saints 
would  have  the  best  of  it  in  another  world,  and  he  did 
not  know  but  that  they  might  have  the  best  of  it  in 


56  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

the  long  run  here  below."  Well,  one  day,  it  may  be  a 
matter  of  seven  years  ago,  Will  and  one  of  his  com- 
panions— a  sad  unsteady  chap — were  hard  at  work 
in  one  of  the  mines  preparing  for  a  blast ;  and  you 
see,  ma'am,  it  is  sharpish  work.  As  soon  as  the  blast 
is  ready,  one  goes  up  in  the  basket  and  sends  it  down 
again  for  his  companion,  who  sets  fire  to  the  train, 
and  then  hoists  up  for  dear  life.  Well,  it  so  hap- 
pened on  this  particular  day  Will's  companion  had 
charge  of  the  match,  and  he  thought  it  was  not  quite 
the  right  length,  like,  and  so  he  must  needs  be  alter- 
ing it.  In  cutting  it  short  he  struck  a  light ;  in  a  few 
moments  the  blast  must  follow.  There  was  the  basket, 
sure  enough  ;  it  would  only  save  one,  the  other  must 
stay  behind  and  die.  "  In,  Jem,  quick,"  said  Will, 
"  go  you  up  and  repent ;  before  you  are  at  the  top,  I 
shall  be  in  heaven."  Up  went  the  basket,  and  before 
Jem  could  get  to  the  top  he  was  cut  by  some  of  the 
stones,  thrown  upward  by  the  blast.  Frightened 
a'most  out  of  his  senses,  he  tells  the  tale,  and  then 
they  go  down  again  to  pick  up  my  poor  Will's 
mangled  remains.  Not  a  bit  of  it :  God  was  in  the 
blast,  though  they  did  not  know  it,  and  He  saw 
where  His  servant  was,  and  the  scorching  fire  went 
by  him,  and,  like  those  three  Jews  the  Bible  tells 
about,  he  came  out,  and  the  smell  of  the  fire  had  not 
so  much  as  passed  upon  him.' * 

1  The  idea  of  this   story  was  given  by  an   anecdote  related  by 
Carlyle  in  his  Life  of  Stirling. 


Will  Bolt  on  goes  to  America.  5  7 

'  Oh  how  glad  I  am  ! '  exclaimed  Arthur,  who  had 
been  eagerly  listening  to  the  story.  '  I  am  so  glad 
God  took  care  of  him.' 

'Ah,  indeed  !  It  would  have  been  a  sad  day  for 
us  had  he  died.  And  then,  you  see,  this  story  got 
wind,  and  people  came  from  a  great  distance  to  see 
Will,  and  Will  said  he  thought  he  was  in  greater  danger 
out  of  the  mine  than  in  it.  He  said  he  thought  there 
was  more  harm  in  the  breath  of  praise  than  in  the 
blast  of  fire,  and  he  found  it  mighty  hard,  he  said, 
to  keep  his  footing  and  not  be  puffed  up.  And  then 
there  was  Mr.  Elliott,  and  our  minister,  and  one  or 
two  others,  and  they  talked  of  making  him  a  reward  ; 
and  Will  said  he  did  not  want  a  reward.  Was  he  not 
rewarded  already  ?  God  had  given  him  his  own  life, 
and  his  companion's  likewise.  But  when  he  saw  as 
how  they  were  bent  on  doing  something,  then  he 
upped  and  let  out  the  secret  of  his  heart, — he  wanted 
schooling,  he  wanted  to  be  an  engineer ;  and  so  all 
his  friends  clubbed  together,  and  they  sent  him  some- 
where where  he  got  a  deal  of  learning ;  and  then  he 
heard  of  employment  out  beyond  the  seas,  in  Ame- 
rikay.  You  know  where  that  is,  I  daresay,  better 
nor  I  do ;  and  he  is  gone  out,  and  right  glad  I  shall 
be  when  he  comes  back  again/ 

'  Oh,  I  wish  I  had  got  my  ball  here,  mamma!'  ex- 
claimed Mary ;  '  then  I  could  show  her  America,  and 
tell  her  just  where  her  son  is.' 

'  They  did  show  me  a  map,  I  think  they  called  it, 


58  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

but  I  could  not  make  much  out  of  it :  one  piece  of 
paper  is  just  the  same  to  me  as  another/ 

'  Oh,  but  you  would  understand  mine/  said  Mary, 
'because  mine  is  round,  just  like  the  world, — the 
world,  you  know,  is  only  a  great  big  ball ;  and  Arthur 
drew  all  the  lines,  and  they  are  all  right :  I  know 
you  would  understand  it  if  I  were  to  show  it  to  you. 
What  a  pity  I  did  not  bring  it  with  me  !  But  I  could 
send  it,  mamma ;  could  I  not  ?' 

' Bless  you,  dear/  said  the  woman  kindly,  'but  it 
would  not  be  of  much  use  to  the  likes  of  me.  Please 
God  I  shall  live  to  see  Will  again,  and  then  I  shall 
not  much  mind  where  he  has  been  to  meanwhile/ 

Mrs.  Bolton's  thirst  for  knowledge  was  certainly 
not  as  ardent  as  her  son's  had  been.  Her  thoughts 
were  more  intent  upon  present  hospitalities ;  and 
seeing  that  the  rain  was  steadily  falling,  she  insisted 
on  her  guests  staying  to  take  tea  ;  and  whilst  Arthur 
and  Mary  had  a  game  of  play  with  Shaggy,  she 
and  her  grand-daughter  Jane  spread  the  table,  and 
covered  the  clean  white  cloth  with  all  the  delicacies 
their  larder  contained.  'She  was  sure/  she  said,  'a 
few  potted  pilchards,  and  some  bread  and  cheese, 
and  a  good  draught  of  cream  would  do  the  young 
gentleman  good, — he  looked  but  weakling,  and  he 
was  heartily  welcome  to  everything  that  they  had  ; 
and  if  that  was  not  enough,  she  knew  where  she 
could  get  more/  But  when  Mrs.  Bolton  finished 
her  hospitable  preparations  by  taking  from  the  cup- 


Mrs.  Grenville  s  Sketch  of ''  Shaggy.'      59 

board  a  loaf  about  the  size  of  a  moderate  pillow, 
Arthur  could  not  help  laughing  as  he  said,  '  He 
thought  there  was  quite  enough  there  to  satisfy  him 
for  a  month  at  least/ 

*  A  month !  You  should  see  how  my  boys  eat. 
It  is  not  long  these  loaves  last  them/ 

Not  to  vex  Mrs.  Bolton,  Mrs.  Grenville  just  tasted 
some  of  the  nice  things  offered  to  her,  and  then  pro- 
posed, whilst  the  children  were  finishing  their  meal, 
to  make  a  little  sketch  of  Shaggy  sitting  up  begging, 
as  they  had  first  seen  him.  This  proposal  gave  uni- 
versal satisfaction.  Mrs.  Grenville  drew  remarkably 
well,  and  in  a  very  short  time  she  had  made  such  a 
bold  spirited  sketch  as  might  have  met  with  the 
approval  of  even  a  Sir  Edwin  Landseer.  In  the 
cottage  it  was  hailed  as  a  perfect  masterpiece  of  art 
At  first  its  progress  had  been  watched  in  solemn 
silence  ;  then,  as  the  finishing  touches  came  in, '  Dear, 
oh  dear,  to  think  of  anything  so  wonderful !  Why, 
it  is  just  the  very  pictur  of  the  dog.  Why,  there 
is  his  shaggy  hair,  and  no  eyes,  and  just  his  nose, 
and  they  are  his  very  paws.  Well,  to  be  sure !  I 
never!' 

The  rain  had  ceased,  and  the  men  had  come  in 
from  their  work ;  and  before  Mrs.  Grenville  had 
finished  her  sketch  she  was  surrounded  by  an  ad- 
miring crowd ;  one  and  all  declaring,  '  That,  to  be 
sure,  it  did  be  the  very  pictur  of  the  dog/ 

'  Well,  to  be  sure !     But  I  do  thank  you/  said  Mrs, 


60  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

Bolton,  gazing  almost  with  reverence  at  the  picture. 
'  Look,  father.  How  often  you  have  been  cross  with 
me  because  I  said  whatever  should  I  do  if  Shag 
died  before  Will  came  back.  Now,  even  if  poor 
Shag  were  to  die,  you  could  hardly  tell  his  pictur 
from  hisself.  La !  father,  would  not  Will  be  right 
pleased  ?' 

But  the  sun  was  now  again  shining  brightly,  and 
Mrs.  Grenville  was  anxious  to  take  advantage  of  the 
fine  weather  to  go  home.  Resisting,  therefore,  the 
kind  importunities  of  her  host  and  hostess, '  that  she 
would  rest  a  bit  longer  amongst  them/  she  thanked 
them  for  all  their  hospitality,  and  shaking  hands 
warmly  with  them,  left  the  cottage,  followed  by  their 
best  wishes  and  earnest  entreaties  that  she  would 
never  come  to  Redruth  without  paying  a  visit  to 
the  miner's  home.  They  had  not  long  left  the  cot- 
tage when  they  were  joined  by  Mr.  Grenville  and 
the  boys,  full  of  all  the  wonders  they  had  seen  in 
the  mine.  But  pleasant  as  it  had  been,  they  were 
rather  tired  and  very  dirty,  and  were  glad  to  return 
to  the  hotel,  to  rest  and  refresh  themselves  before 
going  to  Mr.  Elliott's,  where  they  were  to  spend  the 
evening  of  this  very  eventful  day. 

'  Mamma/  said  Ernest,  as,  a  few  days  after  their 
return  from  their  pleasant  expedition  to  Cornwall, 
the  children  were  sitting  with  their  mother,  'who 
did  Mr.  Elliott  say  had  invented  the  cotton  ma- 
chines ?  That  man,  I  mean,  whom  he  was  telling 


Birth  of  A  rkwright.  6 1 

Arthur  about,  and  who,  he  said,  lived  about  the 
same  time  as  Watt  ?' 

'  Arkwright.' 

'  Oh  yes,  that  is  the  name.  Was  he  as  remarkable 
a  man,  mamma?' 

*  He  was  very  clever  and  ingenious,  but  perhaps 
not  equal  to  Watt  in  power  of  mind.' 

'When  did  he  live,  mamma?'  asked  Arthur.  'Can- 
not you  tell  us  something  about  him  ?' 

'He  was  born  in  1732,'  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 
'  His  parents  were  very  poor  people,  and  he  was  the 
youngest  of  thirteen  children.  But,  as  is  often  the 
case  with  those  who  are  possessed  of  real  genius,  the 
very  hardships  he  had  to  go  through  had  only  the 
effect  of  quickening  his  intellectual  powers.  As  a 
boy,  however,  no  one  seems  to  have  had  an  idea  of 
the  celebrity  to  which  he  would  afterwards  attain. 
He  was  apprenticed  to  a  barber,  and  began  life 
by  shaving  and  cutting  the  hair  of  the  good  people 
of  Bolton.  Wearying,  however,  of  this  somewhat 
monotonous  trade,  he  changed  his  profession  for 
that  of  an  itinerant  hair-dealer.  His  business  was 
to  travel  about  the  country,  and  visit  the  different 
towns,  buying  up  all  the  fine  heads  of  hair,  and  then 
dressing  and  preparing  them  for  the  use  of  the 
wig-makers  ;  for  in  those  days,  when  every  one  wore 
wigs,  it  was  a  much  more  lucrative  profession  than 
it  is  now,  when  we  have  grown  so  matter-of-fact  as 
to  suppose  that  the  head  of  hair  nature  has  given 


62  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

us,  may  possibly  be  quite  as  becoming  as  the  one 
intended  for  our  neighbour.  In  the  course  of  these 
journeys,  Arkwright  was  in  the  habit  of  passing 
through  all  the  manufacturing  districts  in  the  north 
of  England  :  busy  places  then,  though  very  different 
to  what  they  have  since  become,  thanks  to  his  in- 
ventive genius. 

'Up  to  about  1760,  it  had  been  the  habit  of  the 
weavers  to  spin  their  various  cloths  in  their  own 
cottages,  and  then  take  them  for  sale  to  the  towns 
in  their  vicinage.  About  this  time,  however,  the 
merchants  at  Manchester  seem  to  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  would  be  far  more  profitable  for 
all  parties  if  they  were  to  supply  the  weavers  with  a 
certain  quantity  of  the  raw  material,  and  pay  them 
regular  wages  for  making  it  into  calicoes  ;  not  such 
calicoes,  however,  as  we  use  now, — they  were  not 
known  then :  a  far  more  costly  material  was  used, 
threads  of  cotton  and  linen  being  interwoven  ;  there 
being  then  no  method  known  by  which  a  thread  of 
cotton  could  be  prepared  sufficiently  strong  to  act  as 
the  warp.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  are  aware  that 
all  materials  that  are  woven  are  made  of  threads 
which  cross  each  other.  Look  at  my  pocket-hand- 
kerchief/ continued  Mrs.  Grenville  ;  '  or  stay — here  is 
some  coarse  calico.  You  will  see  what  I  mean  more 
plainly  in  that :  one  set  of  threads  goes  one  way, 
and  the  other  the  opposite.  These  long  threads  are 
called  warp,  and  the  shorter  threads  which  cross 


The  Spinning- Jenny.  63 

latitudinally  are  called  weft.  The  warp  used  to  be 
made  of  strong  linen  yarn,  the  weft  of  cotton  ;  and 
with  this  cotton  the  manufacturers  used  to  supply 
the  weavers,  and  they  had  to  card  and  prepare  it 
in  their  own  homes.  At  first  this  plan  seemed  very 
desirable,  as  the  preparing  the  cotton  gave  regular 
employment  to  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
weavers ;  but  soon  the  demand  for  calico  increased 
so  fast  that,  work  as  hard  as  they  would,  the  women 
could  not  supply  the  wants  of  the  weavers ;  and 
often  an  unfortunate  man  had  to  leave  his  home, 
and  walk  sometimes  for  three  or  four  miles,  inquiring 
at  every  cottage  as  he  went,  before  he  could  procure 
weft  enough  even  to  last  him  for  the  remainder  of 
his  day's  work.  This  state  of  things  could  not  con- 
tinue. It  was  evident  a  method  must  be  invented  by 
which  the  weft  might  be  more  quickly  supplied  ;  or 
it  was  clear,  either  that  some  other  material  must  be 
found  to  supply  the  place  of  calico,  or  that  its  manu- 
facture would  pass  into  abler  and  more  ingenious 
hands.  Necessity  may  be  the  mother  of  invention, 
but  at  this  time  James  Hargraves  was  certainly  its 
father.  Without  having  had  any  of  the  advantages 
of  education,  this  very  ingenious  mechanic  directed 
his  attention  to  the  best  method  of  supplying 
quickly  the  daily  increasing  demand  for  the  spun 
cotton;  and  at  length,  in  1767,  he  invented  a  machine 
which  he  called  the  spinning-jenny,  in  which  eight 
spindles  were  made  to  revolve  at  the  same  time,  by 


64  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

means  of  bands  from  a  horizontal  wheel ;  and  thus, 
of  course,  the  spinner  was  able  to  make  eight 
threads  in  exactly  the  same  time  that  he  had 
hitherto  made  one.  No  sooner,  however,  was  it 
seen  what  a  saving  of  time  and  labour  these  ma- 
chines would  effect,  than  an  outcry  was  raised 
through  the  whole  neighbourhood : 

' "  The  trade  was  in  danger.  The  bread  of  the 
honest  poor  was  being  taken  out  of  their  mouths. 
Down  with  the  machines !  Down  with  the  traitor 
who  had  invented  them,  and  wronged  better  men 
than  himself!" 

'Urged  on  by  such  speeches  as  these,  and  by 
false  representations  of  the  ruin  in  which  these  new 
machines  were  to  involve  themselves  and  their  fami- 
lies, the  ignorant  weavers  rose  in  a  body,  and,  led 
by  the  most  turbulent  spirits  in  the  neighbourhood, 
they  marched  straight  to  Hargraves'  house,  destroy- 
ing his  property  and  breaking  his  machines  to  pieces ; 
and  not  content  with  having  wreaked  their  ven- 
geance on  the  author  of  their  fancied  wrongs,  they 
made  their  way  into  the  cottages  where  they  knew 
the  spinning-jennies  were  at  work,  and  wantonly 
broke  them  all  to  pieces.  They  might  ruin  Har- 
graves, they  might  force  him  to  leave  the  county 
and  take  refuge  at  Nottingham,  but  they  could  not 
stop  the  success  of  his  invention  ;  all  that  their 
ignorant  anger  could  effect  was  to  turn  the  rising 
tide  of  prosperity  from  themselves,  and  make  it  flow 


Education  of  the  People.  65 

into  another  channel.  Greatly  surprised  would  those 
men  have  been,  if  they  could  have  been  told,  on  the 
day  when  they  broke  the  spinning-jennies  to  pieces, 
and  fancied  they  had  destroyed  their  worst  enemies, 
that  the  time  was  not  so  very  distant  when  that  very 
machine,  restored  and  improved,  would  do,  not  the 
work  of  eight  spindles,  but  that  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  ;  and  that  instead  of  robbing  one  poor  man 
of  his  bread,  it  would  be  the  means  of  giving  em- 
ployment to  hundreds  of  others,  who,  without  it, 
might  never  have  had  any  work  at  all.  However, 
you  cannot  hope  that  the  poor  and  the  uneducated 
will  take  the  enlightened  views  of  the  statesman  or 
the  scholar.  They  feel  the  present  inconvenience, 
and  can  hardly  be  expected  to  wait  patiently  for 
the  future  good.  Much  has  been  done  since  the 
days  of  Hargraves  to  improve  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual condition  of  our  people  ;  and  though  much 
still  remains  to  do,  yet  I  think  quite  enough  has 
been  effected  to  give  us  ample  encouragement  to 
persevere  in  our  task ;  and  it  is  one  in  which  we  all 
may  help/ 

'All,  Aunt  Helen!1  exclaimed  Charles;  'what 
can  mere  boys  like  we  are  do  ?' 

'  Educate  yourselves/ 

'  But,  aunt,  what  has  that  got  to  do  with  teaching 
the  poor?' 

'  Everything.  Have  you  never  felt  the  effects  of 
indirect  influence  ?  Have  you  not  known  that  your 

E 


66  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

own  thoughts  were  purer,  and  your  own  aspirations 
higher,  when  you  were  amongst  those  whose  judg- 
ment you  respected,  and  to  whose  high  moral  cha- 
racter you  could  at  all  times  look  up  ?' 

'Yes,  aunt,  certainly,'  replied  Charles,  slightly 
hesitating. 

'  Well,  my  dear  boy,  the  same  influence  which  you 
now  feel  others  have  exercised  over  yourself,  you  in 
your  turn  may  exercise  over  others.  Your  very  posi- 
tion as  a  gentleman  by  birth  and  fortune  gives  you 
great  responsibilities.  You  did  not  come  into  the 
world  to  hunt,  and  shoot,  and  smoke  cigars,  and 
dress  well,  and  waltz  elegantly:  these  amusements 
may  be  all  very  well  by  the  way,  but  God  gave  you 
a  work  to  do,  and  He  will  require  an  account  of 
you  of  how  you  have  done  it.  You  came  into  the 
world  to  win  your  way  to  heaven,  and  in  doing  so, 
to  influence  for  good  all  those  who  come  within  your 
daily  sphere  of  action.  Now,  more  or  less,  the  rich 
influence  all  the  poorer  classes.  Of  course  there  are 
exceptions,  but,  as  a  general  rule,  those  below  look 
up  to  those  whose  rank  and  station  are  higher  than 
their  own,  and  allow  themselves  to  be  guided  by 
those  whose  conduct  and  intelligence  they  feel  that 
they  can  respect ;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  if  they  see 
that  the  gentleman  is  only  idling  away  existence, 
they  soon  learn  to  despise  him  ;  and  from  this  con- 
tempt results  subsequent  riot  and  sedition.  But 
then,  in  order  to  rule  others,  you  must  first  learn  to 


Har graves  goes  to  Nottingham.          67 

rule  yourself ;  and  it  is  in  childhood  that  the  foun- 
dation of  your  future  character  is  laid.  Whilst  you 
are  mastering  a  difficult  lesson,  or  working  out  an 
intricate  problem,  you  are  in  reality  acquiring  habits 
of  patience  and  perseverance.  In  these  days  of  over- 
work and  over-stimulus,  it  is  actually  necessary  that 
those  who  would  influence  for  good  the  masses  of 
the  people,  should  be  themselves  possessed  not  only 
of  great  intelligence,  but  of  accurate  information. 
This  can  only  be  acquired  by  patient  and  laborious 
study ;  and  he  who  shirks  work  as  a  boy,  will  very 
rarely  have  much  influence  over  others  when  he  is  a 
man.  However,  we  must  return  to  Hargraves,  whom 
we  left  with  his  house  broken  into,  and  his  machines 
destroyed. 

'  Seeing  clearly  that  it  would  be  quite  useless  to 
endeavour  to  combat  the  spirit  of  opposition  with 
which  the  weavers  of  Lancashire  set  themselves 
against  the  introduction  of  the  spinning -jennies, 
Hargraves  took  the  resolution  of  leaving  his  own 
county  and  going  to  Nottingham,  hoping  in  that 
manufacturing  town  to  find  some  one  who  would  be 
induced  to  advance  the  money  which  was  required 
to  bring  the  spinning-jennies  into  general  notice;  for 
he  never  for  a  moment  doubted  that  if  they  had  but 
a  fair  trial,  their  success  was  certain.  It  would  have 
been  well  if  he  had  been  equally  certain  of  reaping 
the  reward  of  his  own  ingenuity.  But  no  sooner 
did  the  manufacturers  understand  the  immense  gains 


68  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

they  might  derive  from  the  use  of  the  spinning- 
jennies,  than,  in  spite  of  a  patent  which  Hargraves 
had  taken  out  in  the  hopes  of  protecting  himself,  a 
number  of  unprincipled  men,  trusting  to  his  being 
too  poor  to  defend  himself,  openly  infringed  upon 
his  right  Hargraves  brought  the  matter  before  the 
courts ;  but  his  opponents  were  numerous  and  rich, 
— he  was  poor  and  unbefriended.  Without  money, 
and  broken  in  spirit,  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from 
the  unequal  contest  His  unprincipled  adversaries 
reaped  the  benefit  of  his  talents,  whilst  he  himself 
ended  his  days  in  the  workhouse  at  Nottingham  ; 
and  that  this  should  have  been  his  fate,  seems  to 
me  to  be  a  lasting  disgrace  to  the  age  and  society 
in  which  such  a  wrong  was  committed.' 

'And  Arkwright,  was  he  more  prosperous  ?'  asked 
Ernest. 

'Yes/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville,  'the  conclusion  of 
his  life  was  a  very  different  one.  But  I  really  have 
not  time  to  talk  to  you  any  more  to-day.  I  had  no 
idea  it  was  so  late  ;  and  hark !  there  is  the  door  bell. 
Your  aunt,  Arthur,  was  to  call  for  me,  and  I  have  not 
begun  even  to  get  ready.  Run  into  the  hall,  Ernest, 
and  if  it  is  your  aunt,  tell  her  I  will  be  with  her  in  a 
very  few  minutes;'  and  bidding  the  children  good- 
bye, Mrs.  Grenville  went  up -stairs  to  put  on  her 
bonnet 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Arkwright  at  Nottingham — Establishes  the  works  at  Cromford  ;  their 
success — George  Stephenson — Anecdotes  of  his  youth. 

5AMMA/  said  Arthur,  '  I  have  been  think- 
ing so  of  poor  Hargraves  and  his  spinning- 
jennies.     It  seems  so  sad  to  hear  of  his 
dying  in  the  workhouse,  whilst  other  men 
were  growing  rich  by  his  inventions.     Did  Arkwright 
know  about  it,  mamma  ?' 

'About  his  poverty,  or  about  the  spinning-jenny, 
do  you  mean  ? ' 

'  Why,  I  meant  about  the  spinning-jenny  at  the 
moment  ?' 

'  Most  probably,  I  should  think,'  replied  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville,  'for  Hargraves  must  have  been  busily  at  work 
in  the  construction  of  the  machine  at  the  time  when 
Arkwright  was  travelling  over  all  those  northern 
districts.  I  daresay,  however,  they  did  not  come 
much  in  contact,  as  Arkwright's  employment  must 
have  taken  him  amongst  rather  a  higher  class  of 
employers.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  there  seems 


70  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

no  doubt  that  the  same  idea  occurred  to  the  two  men 
nearly  at  the  same  period.  Both  saw  that  if  the 
cotton  manufacture  was  to  be  carried  on  successfully 
in  England,  some  means  must  be  at  once  discovered 
by  which  the  cotton  could  be  rapidly  prepared. 
Both  men  set  busily  to 'work  to  find  the  remedy, 
but  Arkwright  went  further  than  Hargraves  in  his 
ideas  of  improvement.  Hargraves  seems  to  have 
thought  only  of  a  rapid  means  of  preparing  the 
weft ;  but  Arkwright  saw  clearly  that  if  any  method 
could  be  found  by  which  cotton  could  be  spun  into 
threads  strong  enough  to  act  as  warp,  the  use  of  the 
linen  yarn  would  be  immediately  superseded,  and 
calicoes  might  be  made  at  a  very  reduced  price. 
Long  and  anxiously  he  thought  over  the  means  of 
effecting  his  purpose,  until  at  length,  when  he  was 
one  day  watching  some  workmen  who  were  busy  in 
elongating  a  red-hot  bar  of  iron  by  means  of  rollers, 
the  idea  suddenly  seized  him  of  how  his  plan  could 
be  successfully  accomplished.  Unfortunately,  he  was 
no  mechanic.  He  had  got  his  idea  clearly  in  his  own 
head  :  how  was  he  to  work  it  out  ?  Happily,  his  busi- 
ness had  been  so  successful  that  he  was  enabled  to 
procure  the  assistance  of  a  man  named  Kay,  a  clock- 
maker  at  Warrington,  and  the  two  together  con- 
structed a  machine,  in  which,  by  means  of  a  double 
set  of  rollers,  one  moving  three  times  as  quickly  as 
the  other,  the  cotton  was  spun  rapidly  into  a  firm 
thin  thread,  quite  as  strong  as  the  linen  yarn  which 


A  Picture  of  Manchester.  71 

was  then  in  use.  I  will  ask  papa  this  evening  to 
show  you  a  picture  of  the  machine :  he  will  explain 
to  you  exactly  how  it  acts,  and  you  will  understand 
it  better  then  than  I  can  tell  you  now.1 

'Oh,  we  must  get  Uncle  Henry  to  take  us  to 
Manchester !'  said  Charles.  '  I  suppose  that  is  where 
all  these  machines  are  seen  to  perfection.  I  quite 
like  learning,  when  it  takes  the  form  of  excursions 
all  over  the  country/ 

'  I  daresay  you  do/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville  with  a 
smile ;  '  but  I  am  afraid  you  would  find  a  visit  to 
Manchester  a  very  different  thing  to  our  pleasant 
little  trip  into  Cornwall :  there  is  something  to  me 
dreadfully  depressing  in  the  smoke  and  dirt  and 
misery  of  the  manufacturing  districts.  The  people 
all  look  so  careworn  ;  the  very  children  are  like  old 
men  and  women.  There  is  such  perpetual  noise 
and  din  and  hurry,  there  seems  no  time  for  rest, 
or  for  enjoying  this  earth,  which  God  has  made  so 
beautiful.  You  would  see  no  such  cottages  as  those 
we  were  in  in  Cornwall,  and  you  would  hear  no  such 
merry  shouts  of  children's  laughter ;  there  is  no  time 
to  play  with  Skye  terriers  there.  You  must  wait  till 
you  are  a  little  older,  and  then  I  will  ask  your  uncle 
to  take  you  to  Manchester/ 

'Well  then,  Aunt  Hel^n,  I  must  try  and  be 
patient,  and  you  must  go  on  with  Arkwright's  story.* 

'Highly  philosophical/  said  Mrs.  Grenville;  and 
then  she  added : '  As  soon  as  Arkwrisht  felt  sure  that 


72  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

his  machine  would  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  intended,  he  determined  to  remove  from  Pres- 
ton and  take  up  his  abode  at  Nottingham,  as  he 
naturally  thought  that  the  men  who  had  ruined 
Hargraves  and  destroyed  his  spinning-jennies  would 
not  be  at  all  likely  to  give  a  more  favourable  recep- 
tion to  this  new  machine.  Arrived  at  Nottingham, 
he,  like  Hargraves,  had  many  difficulties  to  contend 
with,  his  own  little  capital  being  quickly  exhausted. 
Fortunately,  however,  he  obtained  an  introduction  to 
a  Mr.  Strutt,  a  stocking  manufacturer,  a  clever,  able 
man,  who,  having  a  great  taste  for  mechanics,  was 
quite  able  to  appreciate  the  value  of  Arkwright's 
new  machine,  although  at  the  same  time  he  pointed 
out  many  little  improvements  that  might  be  made  in 
it.  Arkwright  immediately  admitted  the  truth  of 
what  he  said,  and  candidly  confessed  that  he  him- 
self had  been  quite  aware  of  the  defects  of  the  spin- 
ning-frame, but  that,  in  spite  of  his  utmost  efforts, 
he  had  been  unable  to  rectify  them.  Charmed  with 
his  candour,  and  struck  with  the  great  native  power 
and  energy  of  the  man,  Mr.  Strutt  willingly  listened 
to  Arkwright's  suggestion  that  they  should  enter 
into  partnership,  and  establish  a  mill  between  them. 
Nothing  could  be  more  satisfactory.  Strutt  being  an 
educated  man  and  a  skilful  mechanist,  could  exactly 
supply  the  knowledge  in  which  Arkwright  was  de- 
ficient ;  and,  under  the  able  superintendence  of  the 
two  friends,  the  erection  of  the  new  machinery  went 


Establishment  of  the  First  Cotton-Mill.    73 

on  successfully,  and  the  first  mill  was  opened  in 
Nottingham  in  1769.  Unfortunately,  there  were 
none  of  Watt's  engines  in  existence  to  supply  the 
steam  power,  and  the  partners  were  obliged  to 
employ  horses  to  keep  the  machinery  at  work.  This 
was  found  such  an  expensive  operation,  that  Ark- 
wright  advised  that  they  should  remove  their  works 
to  Cromford,  in  Derbyshire,  where  they  could  make 
use  of  the  river  to  obtain  water  power.  This  sug- 
gestion was  acted  upon,  and  in  1771  the  manufactory 
was  opened,  which  was  destined  to  immortalize  the 
name  of  its  founder.  Fame  and  fortune,  however, 
did  not  visit  Cromford  of  their  own  accord.  For 
many  years  Arkwright  found  it  a  hard  fight  against 
the  prejudices  of  the  ignorant  and  the  schemes  of 
the  designing,  who  hoped  to  rob  him  of  the  fruits  of 
his  talent  and  industry,  by  infringing  in  every  possible 
manner  upon  the  patents  with  which  he  had  sought 
to  protect  himself.  Fortunately,  however,  Arkwright 
had  both  the  nerve  and  the  money  to  carry  him  safely 
through  all  legal  disputes.  Meanwhile  the  fame  of 
his  invention  was  steadily  advancing ;  and  no  more 
striking  proof  can  be  given  of  its  complete  success 
than  the  fact  that,  in  1771,  4,764,589  Ibs.  of  cotton 
were  imported  into  England,  whilst  in  1800,  so 
greatly  had  the  demand  for  calico  manufactures 
increased,  that  56,000,000  Ibs.  did  not  supply  the 
want.  Now,  indeed,  when  between  three  and  four 
hundred  millions  of  pounds  of  cotton  are  used 


74  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

every  year,  this  sum  seems  as  a  mere  nothing ;  but 
in  those  days,  when  there  were  no  steam-engines  to 
work  the  mills,  and  when  the  Continent  was  closed 
to  our  manufacturers,  the  sudden  impetus  given  to 
the  cotton  trade,  through  the  genius  and  enterprise 
of  Arkwright,  must  have  appeared  something  almost 
fabulous ;  and  scarcely  less  wonderful  must  it  have 
seemed  to  Arkwright  himself,  to  be  thus  trans- 
formed from  an  itinerant  barber  into  the  chief  of 
one  of  the  greatest  establishments  the  world  has 
ever  seen. 

*  Happily  for  himself,  prosperity  did  not  take  from 
the  truthfulness  or  vigour  of  his  natural  character. 
Neither  his  great  wealth,  nor  the  consideration  with 
which  he  was  treated  by  the  most  distinguished  men 
of  his  day,  made  him  forget  what  he  had  been,  nor 
relax  in  his  efforts  to  make  himself  worthy  of  what 
he  had  become  ;  and  so  fully  was  he  aware  of  the 
deficiencies  of  his  early  education,  that  he  resolutely 
took  two  hours  every  night  from  the  very  short  time 
which  he  allowed  himself  for  sleep,  that  he  might 
master  the  intricacies  of  the  English  grammar,  and 
teach  himself  to  spell  and  write  correctly.  No  won- 
der that  a  man  who  could  exercise  such  self-denial 
as  to  do  this  after  working  from  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning  until  nine  o'clock  at  night,  succeeded  in  all 
his  enterprises  ;  nor  that,  when  he  died,  he  left  a 
fortune  of  half  a  million  of  money  to  his  children. 
But  whether  any  human  being  is  justified  in  expend- 


The  Great  Object  of  Man.  75 

ing  his  whole  energies  in  worldly  pursuits,  however 
laudable,  is  quite  another  question :  not  that  I  mean 
by  saying  this  to  blame  Sir  Richard  Arkwright, — I 
know  far  too  little  of  his  personal  character  to  pass 
any  judgment  on  him  whatever ;  but  in  holding  him 
out  to  you  as  a  model  worthy  of  imitation  for  his 
perseverance,  his  energy,  his  self-denial,  his  wonder- 
ful powers  of  endurance,  which,  united  to  his  good 
sense  and  clear  judgment,  brought  him  successfully 
through  trials  and  difficulties  which  would  have 
overwhelmed  an  inferior  man,  I  would  not  have  you 
suppose  that  I  would  put  all  these  qualities,  and  the 
worldly  success  which  they  of  necessity  bring  with 
them,  for  one  moment  in  comparison  with  the  working 
out  of  that  which,  after  all,  is  the  only  thing  of  real 
importance — the  obtaining  an  inheritance  eternal, 
and  which  fadeth  not  away.  When  we  are  young, 
I  know  we  are  all  more  or  less  apt  to  be  dazzled  by 
the  fame  of  those  who  have  drawn  upon  themselves 
the  world's  applause,  simply  by  the  force  of  their 
own  character  and  genius.  But  I  have  lived  to  see 
the  end  of  these  things.  I  have  watched  the  last 
days  of  those  whose  lives  have  been  devoted  to  the 
world,  its  pleasures,  its  pursuits,  the  gaining  of  its 
wealth  and  honours ;  and  I  have  learned  the  full 
meaning  of  the  words  of  one  who  had  acquired  all 
these  rewards  for  himself,  and  then  confessed,  "These 
are  the  things  that  make  death  terrible."  I  remem- 
ber, however,  too  well  what  I  was  when  I  was  young, 


76  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

I  have  too  vivid  a  recollection  of  my  own  eager  long- 
ings for  fame  and  for  distinction,  to  hope  that  you 
will  quite  agree  with  me  now.  The  grave  has  closed 
over  those  ambitious  hopes  for  me ;  and  now  my 
only  and  most  fervent  prayer  for  you  all  is,  that 
you  may  be  good  men,  and  faithful  servants  of  your 
God/ 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  :  the  children  knew 
well  of  whom  their  mother  was  thinking,  for;  young 
as  they  were  when  Harry  died,  they  quite  remem- 
bered his  noble,  generous  nature,  and  the  fine  talents 
which  had  been  only  too  early  developed.  At  length 
Arthur,  looking  up,  said  gently,  'Mamma  dear,  I 
will  try  to  remember  what  you  have  been  saying. 
Who  knows  but,  after  all,  my  ill  health  may  be  very 
good  for  me  ?  If  I  was  strong,  I  am  afraid  I  should 
think  of  nothing  but  my  inventions/ 

'You  do  not  think  of  much  else  now/  said  Charles 
bluntly. 

'  Oh  yes,  I  do/  replied  Arthur  kindly ;  '  you  do 
not  know  how  many  thoughts  pass  through  my 
mind  whilst  I  am  lying  all  alone  by  myself  on  the 
sofa/ 

'  I  know  they  are  always  very  kind  ones/  replied 
Charles,  struck  by  his  cousin's  manner,  and  repent- 
ing in  a  moment  of  his  own  abruptness  ;  *  otherwise 
you  never  would  be  so  good-natured  to  such  an  un- 
gracious bear  as  I  am.  I  am  so  sorry,  Arthur/ 

'  Oh,  do  not  mind  ;  what  you  said  was  very  true, 


A  New  Want.  77 

only  I  do  think  of  a  good  many  other  things  besides 
my  inventions/ 

*  But,  mamma/  exclaimed  Ernest,  'I  thought  Ark- 
wright  invented  a  steam-engine ;  I  have  always  been 
expecting  you. to  come  to  it' 

'  No,  his  time  was  fully  occupied  in  preparing  his 
spinning-frames ;  and,  as  I  have  told  you,  he  made 
use  first  of  horse,  and  then  of  water  power,  to  set 
them  in  motion/ 

'  But  would  not  steam  have  answered  his  purpose 
much  better,  mamma  ? ' 

'  Undoubtedly ;  but  then  the  engines  such  as  he 
required  had  never  been  constructed.  Arkwright 
opened  his  mill  at  Cromford  in  1771,  and  it  was  not 
until  two  or  three  years  after  that  time  that  Watt 
entered  into  partnership  with  Boulton.  Arkwright 
died  in  1792;  therefore  but  little,  comparatively 
speaking,  could  have  been  known  of  the  wonderful 
facilities  steam  power  was  to  offer  to  all  the  manu- 
facturers of  Great  Britain.  No  sooner,  however, 
were  the  engines  at  work  than  a  fresh  want  was 
felt :  here  were  the  goods  indeed,  but  how  were  they 
to  be  transported  rapidly  from  one  part  of  the  world 
to  another  ?  If  some  means  could  not  be  discovered 
of  carrying  these  great  bales  of  merchandise  quickly 
and  economically,  warehouses  would  be  overstocked, 
trade  would  be  at  a  standstill,  and,  as  a  mere  matter 
of  profit,  manufacturers  might  as  well  have  been 
without  their  engines  as  with  them.  But  one  dis- 


78  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

covery  paves  the  way  for  another,  and  the  remedy 
for  this  new  evil  was  found  by  George  Stephenson, 
when,  in  the  face  of  such  difficulties  as  perhaps  no 
one  else  has  ever  been  called  upon  to  overcome,  he 
planned  and  carried  into  execution  the  most  gigan- 
tic undertaking  the  world  has  ever  seen.  I  do  not 
know  a  more  interesting  story  than  the  life  of  this 
very  remarkable  man,  or  one  which  better  illustrates 
the  truth  of  my  favourite  theory,  that  energy  of  pur- 
pose, combined  with  good  sense  and  perseverance, 
are  far  more  valuable  qualities,  and  will  at  all  times 
secure  greater  success,  than  the  most  brilliant  intel- 
lectual acquirements.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  con- 
ceive greater  disadvantages,  in  a  worldly  point  of 
view,  than  those  under  which  George  Stephenson 
worked  his  way  to  fame  and  fortune.  A  Life  of  him 
has  recently  been  published  by  Mr.  Smiles ;  and  a 
most  charming,  amusing  book  it  is,  and  one  which 
you  will  enjoy  to  read  for  yourselves  when  you  are 
a  little  older.  For  the  present,  I  think  you  must  be 
content  with  my  telling  you  such  portions  of  the 
story  as  I  think  will  be  of  interest  to  you.1 

2 '  The  father  of  George  Stephenson  was  a  work- 
man in  a  colliery  at  Wylam,  about  eight  miles  from 

1  For  the  accuracy  of  the  facts  stated  in  the  following  story,  the 
writer  is  greatly  indebted  to  Mr.   Smiles'  Life  of  George  Stephenson. 
She  has  indicated  in  footnotes,  at  the  commencement  of  each  chapter, 
the  portions  of  Mr.  Smiles'  book  from  which  her  information  has  been 
derived. 

2  SeetSmiles'  Life  of  Stephenson^  pp.  1-26. 


George  Stephensorf  s  Early  Life.          79 

Newcastle :  he  has  an  honest,  kind,  industrious  man, 
but  very  poor ;  and,  as  he  had  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren, he  had  to  work  hard  to  support  them.  George, 
who  was  his  second  son,  was  born  on  the  Qth  of 
June  1781.  From  his  boyhood  he  was  an  indepen- 
dent, spirited  little  fellow,  and  ready  and  anxious  to 
obtain  information  on  all  subjects.  His  education, 
however,  was  of  a  most  desultory  kind.  His  father 
was  much  too  poor  to  be  able  to  send  him  to  school, 
so  all  George's  learning  consisted  in  listening  eagerly 
to  the  stories  his  father  used  to  tell  him  of  an  even- 
ing about  Sinbad  the  Sailor  and  Robinson  Crusoe, 
or  heroes  of  the  same  description,  whose  adventures 
old  Mr.  Stephenson  invented  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  for  the  amusement  of  his  children; — all 
which  stories,  I  daresay,  excited  George's  childish 
ambition,  and  made  him  long  for  the  day  when  he 
should  be  as  great  and  as  celebrated  as  they  were. 

'  When  he  was  about  eight  years  of  age,  he  was 
promoted  to  the  dignity  of  taking  charge  of  the 
cows  of  a  poor  woman,  who  lived  at  a  farm  not  very 
far  from  Mr.  Stephenson 's  cottage.  George  was 
delighted  with  his  new  occupation.  Not  only  did 
he  receive  twopence  a  week  regularly,  but  he  had 
plenty  of  time  which  he  could  devote  to  his  favour- 
ite amusement  of  constructing  model  engines  with 
the  clay  which  he  found  in  a  neighbouring  bog :  for 
hours  and  hours  together  he  would  sit  watching  his 
cows,  and  working  away  at  his  clay  models.  It  is 


So  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

very  likely  that  even  in  those  childish  performances 
may  have  been  seen  germs  of  the  wonderful  im- 
provements which  he  afterwards  effected.  At  any 
rate,  the  knowledge  which  he  thus  acquired  of  the 
different  parts  and  construction  of  the  engine  was  of 
the  greatest  advantage  to  him,  when  at  a  later  period 
it  became  his  especial  care  and  study.  In  a  short 
time,  however,  George  was  pronounced  too  old  to 
sit  and  watch  cows.  He  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
his  favourite  modelling,  and  take  work  at  the  farm. 
This  was  all  very  well,  but  his  heart  was  with  his 
engines.  He  said  he  never  should  be  happy  till  he 
got  back  amongst  them  again.  At  length,  to  his 
great  delight,  he  was  taken  on  regularly  as  a 
"  picker "  in  the  colliery  where  his  father  was  em- 
ployed. His  business  now  was  to  clear  the  coal 
from  bits  of  stone  or  dross,  or  whatever  impurities 
there  might  be ;  and  although  this  occupation  was 
one  of  the  lowest  in  the  mine,  and  very  far  removed 
from  the  great  object  of  his  ambition,  the  entire 
charge  and  management  of  the  engine,  yet  he  could 
see  and  be  near  his  favourite,  even  if  he  could  not 
touch  and  handle  her.  At  any  rate,  he  had  placed 
his  foot  on  the  first  ring  of  the  ladder;  it  should 
not  be  his  fault  if  he  did  not  soon  mount  to 
the  top. 

*  At  length  the  day  arrived,  so  long,  so  anxiously 
expected.  George  was  allowed  to  help  his  father 
in  firing  the  engine:  a  happy,  proud  boy  he  was. 


Stephensoris  Warm-heartedness.          Si 

There  was  but  one  drawback  to  his  enjoyment ;  he 
was  so  much  younger  than  those  generally  employed 
about  the  engines,  that  he  dreaded  that  the  master 
of  the  mine  should  object,  and  turn  him  off  his  works. 
No  sooner,  therefore,  did  he  hear  his  step  coming 
near,  than,  leaving  his  father  to  take  care  of  the 
engine,  he  would  scamper  away  and  hide  himself  till 
the  danger  was  past.  If  George  had  not  been  such 
a  general  favourite,  he  might  have  got  into  trouble. 
But  he  was  such  a  bright,  high-spirited,  good-natured 
boy — up  to  all  sorts  of  fun  and  nonsense,  ever  ready 
with  a  cheery  word  and  kind  act — that  he  must 
have  been  a  very  bad-natured  man  who  would  have 
told  tales  of  Geordie  Stephenson.  And  so  the  boy 
worked  on,  and  every  day  his  love  for  his  engine 
grew  stronger  and  stronger. 

'  It  did  not,  however,  absorb  all  his  thoughts.  His 
nature  was  so  kindly  that  there  seemed  room  in  his 
heart  for  every  living  creature,  and  endless  were  the 
pets  he  tamed.  Now  he  would  take  home  a  whole 
number  of  birds,  and  domesticate  them  so  entirely, 
they  would  walk  about  the  cottage  as  unconcernedly 
as  if  it  was  their  own  nest.  One  blackbird  in  parti- 
cular was  his  especial  pet.  This  bird  would  go  away 
for  months  in  the  spring  and  summer,  and  then  as 
soon  as  ever  the  frosts  set  in,  and  the  weather  be- 
came cold,  back  it  would  fly  to  its  old  friend,  as  if 
it  was  quite  sure  where  it  would  receive  a  cordial 
welcome.  Then  he  would  have  a  family  of  rabbits, 

F 


82  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  knew  them  all  individually.  In  fact,  it  would  be 
endless  to  go  through  a  list  of  all  his  pets,  for  to  the 
last  day  of  his  life  everything  in  nature  had  charms 
for  George  Stephenson. 

'  In  such  happy,  rational  pursuits  two  or  three 
more  years  passed  away  ;  his  mind  becoming  every 
year  more  acute  and  vigorous,  as  his  bodily  strength 
was  gradually  developed.  At  length,  when  he  was 
about  seventeen  years  of  age,  his  character  for  steadi- 
ness and  intelligence  was  so  well  established,  that  he 
was  appointed  engineman  ;  a  very  responsible  office, 
and  one  only  given  to  those  who  can  be  thoroughly 
trusted.  George  was  naturally  highly  delighted  at 
such  confidence  being  placed  in  him,  and  determined 
to  show  that  he  was  not  unworthy  of  it.  He  made 
up  his  mind  to  devote  all  his  leisure  time  to  making 
himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  construction 
of  the  engine  thus  placed  under  his  charge  ;  and  then, 
if  any  part  went  wrong,  he  hoped  that  he  himself 
should  be  able  to  rectify  it  without  calling  in  the  aid 
of  the  resident  engineer,  whose  business  it  was  to 
assist  the  enginemen  in  any  difficulty  beyond  their 
powers. 

'  In  order  to  understand  what  a  very  difficult  task 
he  now  set  himself,  you  must  remember  that  George 
Stephenson  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  there- 
fore all  that  had  been  written  and  published  on  the 
subject  of  the  steam-engine  was  so  much  sealed 
matter  for  him.  He  had  to  work  his  own  way  to  a 


Stephensoris  Perseverance.  83 

right  understanding  of  the  subject  by  the  force  of 
his  own  observation  and  judgment.  Nothing  daunted, 
however,  he  set  himself  to  his  task,  and  as  soon  as 
the  day's  work  was  over,  he  used  to  take  his  engine 
to  pieces.  He  knew  well  that  the  only  way  to  suc- 
ceed is  patiently  to  master  each  difficulty  as  it  arises ; 
so,  as  soon  as  he  clearly  understood  one  portion  of 
the  works,  then  he  would  pass  on  to  another,  until 
at  length  he  acquired  a  thorough  practical  knowledge 
of  even  the  most  intricate  machinery, — a  knowledge 
which  was  afterwards  of  inestimable  value  to  him. 
But  the  better  workman  he  became,  the  more  he  felt 
how  much  there  was  yet  for  him  to  accomplish. 
And  now  for  the  first  time  he  fully  realized  all  the 
disadvantages  of  his  early  want  of  education.  To  feel 
the  want,  however,  was,  with  George  Stephenson,  to 
find  the  remedy.  His  time  was  fully  occupied,  and 
his  wages  were  very  small ;  but  still  some  portion 
of  both  must  be  devoted  to  the  acquisition  of  that 
learning  which  could  alone  give  him  possession  of 
the  knowledge  he  so  eagerly  coveted.  There  was  a 
poor  man  in  the  village  of  Walbottle,  named  Robert 
Cowens,  who  kept  a  small  school,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  teaching  in  the  evening  some  of  the  elder 
boys,  whose  time  through  the  day  was  employed  in 
the  mines.  This  class  George  joined,  paying  threer 
pence  a  week  for  his  instruction.  It  was  but  poor 
teaching  at  the  best ;  but  George  brought  such  an 
eager,  willing  spirit  to  his  lessons,  that  he  had  soon 


84  The  Triumphs  of  Steayn. 

mastered  all  the  first  difficulties  both  of  reading  and 
writing,  and  to  his  great  delight  was  able  to  sign  his 
own  name. 

'  Most  fortunately,  a  Scotchman  of  the  name  of 
Andrew  Robertson,  a  man  of  far  higher  attainments 
than  Robert  Cowens,  happened  to  come  about  this 
time  to  settle  at  Newburn,  a  village  not  very  far 
from  the  mine  at  which  George  was  employed. 
Robertson  opened  a  night  school  for  young  men. 
Many  of  the  miners  were  glad  to  take  advantage  of 
this  opportunity  of  "  becoming  scholars,"  but  to  no 
one  was  the  boon  greater  than  to  George  Stephen- 
son,  and  he  soon  became  the  most  distinguished 
pupil  in  Robertson's  class.  His  great  talent  was 
for  arithmetic ;  and  such  rapid  progress  did  he  make, 
that  one  of  his  young  companions,  who  joined  the 
class  at  the  same  time  as  himself,  was  quite  in  de- 
spair at  finding  himself  thus  distanced  in  "  figuring," 
as  he  called  it,  and  sought  in  vain  for  the  explana- 
tion ot  the  mystery.  He  might  have  found  it  in 
George's  wonderful  perseverance.  No  difficulty  dis- 
heartened him.  If  he  could  not  do  it  one  way,  he 
would  try  another.  He  would  take  his  slate  with 
him  when  he  went  to  attend  to  his  engine,  and  at 
every  leisure  moment  down  he  would  sit  to  his  sum, 
and  when  after  hours  of  labour  still  it  would  not 
work  out  right,  never  mind,  he  would  rub  it  out  and 
begin  again.  It  was  hard  if  he  did  not  come  out 
conqueror  at  last' 


Stephenson  a  Brakesman.  85 

'  That  was  the  rule  of  practice  with  a  vengeance/ 
said  Charles,  laughing. 

'  It  was  indeed/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville.  '  Such 
perseverance  was  sure  to  meet  with  its  reward  ;  and 
George  began  to  hope  that  he  should  now  soon  at- 
tain the  great  object  of  his  ambition,  and  be  able  to 
read  for  himself  all  the  details  of  those  wonderful 
engines  of  Messrs.  Watt  and  Boulton,  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  which  he  had  so  eagerly  listened.  He  would 
have  liked  to  have  gone  to  Soho,  if  that  had  been 
possible,  but  that  could  not  be ;  and  very  fortunate 
for  him  that  it  could  not,  for,  little  as  he  thought  of 
it  then,  he  was  to  achieve  a  reputation  in  the  north 
surpassing  even  that  of  the  man  whom  he  so  much 
admired. 

'  Having  now  made  himself  fully  acquainted  with 
all  the  different  parts  of  his  engine,  Stephenson' s 
next  ambition  was  to  become  brakesman,  a  man 
whose  duties  are  very  much  the  same  as  those  of 
engineman  on  the  locomotive  at  the  present  time. 
It  was  an  office  that  required  great  skill  and  nicety, 
as  the  brakesman  had  to  see  at  once  to  the  working 
of  the  engine,  and  to  the  raising  and  lowering  of  the 
baskets.  It  was  therefore  a  post  of  more  importance 
and  better  paid  than  the  one  of  engineman,  which 
Stephenson  had  now  held  for  several  years.  The 
jealousy  of  some  of  his  companions  was  at  first  an 
insuperable  barrier  to  his  obtaining  the  coveted  em- 
ployment. With  the  steady  support  and  assistance, 


86  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

however,  of  one  of  his  earliest  friends  and  fellow- 
workmen,  this  difficulty  was  at  length  overcome, 
and  to  his  great  delight  he  was  appointed  brakes- 
man to  the  Dolly  Pit,  in  the  Black  Callerton  Col- 
liery. 

'  But  notwithstanding  all  his  arduous  duties,  he 
always  found  time  to  attend  to  his  live  pets, — they 
were  his  amusements,  the  other  was  his  work  ;  and 
such  wonderful  power  did  he  exercise  over  all  birds 
and  animals,  that  he  would  tame  the  robin-red- 
breasts to  come  and  eat  bread-crumbs  off  the  engine, 
in  spite  of  such  fire,  and  smoke,  and  din,  and  clatter 
as  you  would  have  thought  must  have  scared  a  re- 
spectable robin-redbreast  out  of  his  senses.  But  the 
most  extraordinary  stories  of  all  are  told  of  Spot,  a 
very  handsome  brown  long-haired  shepherd's  dog. 
This  creature  was  endowed  with  the  wonderful  saga- 
city for  which  his  race  are  so  justly  celebrated,  and 
was  so  fond  of  his  master,  that  he  would  do  every- 
thing that  he  bade  him.  At  last  the  fancy  seized  Mr. 
Stephenson  of  turning  his  favourite  into  a  messenger, 
and  making  him  bring  him  his  dinner  hot  every  day 
from  his  own  home  to  the  pit.  After  some  preli- 
minary experiments,  the  dog  was  sent  home  from 
the  pit  to  the  cottage  ;  a  tin,  containing  the  dinner, 
was  tied  round  his  neck,  and  he  was  told  to  run  oft 
to  his  master  as  fast  as  possible.  Off  started  the 
dog  ;  he  turned  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the 
left,  nor  did  he  stay  to  investigate  what  was  the 


A  Faithful  Dog.  8  7 

cause  of  the  delicious  odour  coming  up  so  fragrantly 
just  under  his  nose.  Right  on  he  trotted,  straight 
through  the  whole  village  of  Newburn,  and  safe  and 
untouched  he  delivered  his  burden  to  his  delighted 
master.  From  that  day  forward,  Spot  was  employed 
regularly  to  fetch  and  carry ;  and  a  proud  dog  he 
was,  as  with  head  and  tail  erect  he  would  trot  along 
with  a  stately  step,  his  tin  canister  suspended  from 
his  neck.  But,  alas !  all  the  dogs  in  the  village  were 
not  animated  by  the  same  honest  spirit  as  himself, 
and  the  smell  of  the  passing  dinner  was  so  irresis- 
tibly attractive,  that  at  length  one  day  a  great  bully 
of  a  dog,  who  belonged  to  a  butcher,  determined  to 
intercept  the  messenger,  and  appropriate  the  con- 
tents of  the  tin  to  himself.  Spot  saw  the  approach 
of  the  enemy,  and  instantly  divined  his  intentions  : 
he  could  not  run  away, — he  was  of  too  brave  a 
nature  to  contemplate  such  a  cowardly  proceeding, — 
but  he  determined  to  die  rather  than  relinquish  his 
trust.  He  therefore  calmly  awaited  the  onset  of  the 
great  beast,  who  was  twice  his  own  size  and  strength  : 
a  fierce  conflict  ensued,  but  the  honesty  and  courage 
of  Spot  met  with  their  due  reward.  The  butcher's 
dog,  beaten  and  disgraced,  slunk  off  with  his  tail 
between  his  legs  ;  and  Spot,  all  torn  and  bleeding 
as  he  was,  galloped  off  in  triumph  to  his  master, 
little  dreaming  that  the  tin  he  laid  down  so  proudly 
at  his  feet,  no  longer  contained  the  dinner  for  which 
he  had  so  bravely  fought  and  conquered.  The  con- 


88  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

tents  of  the  canister  had  been  spilt  in  the  strife, — a 
lesson  that  many  an  individual,  and  many  a  nation 
too,  would  do  well  to  profit  by.  Astonished  to  see 
the  mangled  condition  of  his  favourite,  and  to  find 
his  own  dinner  had  wholly  disappeared,  Stephenson 
guessed  that  something  very  unusual  had  occurred  ; 
and  when  he  was  afterwards  told  the  circumstances 
of  the  combat  by  a  man  who  had  witnessed  it,  he 
was  so  delighted  with  the  prowess  of  his  favourite, 
that  he  said  he  thought  the  knowledge  that  he 
possessed  such  a  brave  and  faithful  friend  was 
cheaply  purchased  by  the  loss  of  his  meal/ 

'  Spot  was  a  fine,  brave  old  fellow/  exclaimed 
Charles.  '  I  wonder  whether  we  could  make  Donald 
bring  us  our  dinner/ 

'  I  advise  you  not  to  try  the  experiment  till  you 
have  satisfied  your  hunger/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 

'  I  am  sure,  mamma/  said  Ernest,  '  Donny  is  won- 
derfully sensible ;  he  can  do  almost  anything ;  he 
understands  every  word  I  say  to  him/ 

'I  do  not  in  the  least  wish  to  detract  from  the 
merits  of  your  dog/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville  ;  '  only,  as 
you  have  the  opportunity  of  dining  more  comfortably 
than  George  Stephenson  could  in  those  days,  I  think 
it  would  be  quite  as  well  to  let  Harris  bring  up  the 
dinner  in  the  ordinary  way,  instead  of  trusting  to 
the  tender  mercies  of  Donald/ 

'  Mamma,  you  are  laughing/ 

'  Why  should  not  I  ?     It  is  not  any  very  serious 


Proposal  to  Train  '  Donald!  89 

matter  surely.  Whether  it  is  or  not,  however,  I  must 
leave  you  to  decide  ;  for  I  have  several  poor  people 
I  want  to  see  in  the  village,  and  if  I  do  not  go  at 
once,  it  will  be  dark  before  I  can  return/ 

As  soon  as  Mrs.  Grenville  left  the  room,  the  chil- 
dren, full  of  their  new  device,  set  off  to  discover 
Donald.  He  was  not  far  off, — in  fact  he  seldom  was  ; 
he  and  the  boys  were  such  constant  playfellows,  that 
if  he  was  not  allowed  to  come  into  the  drawing-room, 
he  generally  stationed  himself  on  the  mat  just  out- 
side the  door,  that  he  might  be  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  to  join  his  companions  as  soon  as  he  was 
wanted. 

Here  was  the  dog ;  but  where  was  the  can,  and 
v/here  was  the  dinner  ? 

Charles,  who  was  always  the  promoter  of  all  fun 
and  mischief,  and  had  generally  a  resource  at  hand, 
suggested  that  one  of  the  milk  cans  would  be  just 
the  very  thing  they  wanted :  they  were  in  the  dairy, — 
he  knew  where  ;  he  would  fetch  one  in  no  time.  The 
dinner  was  not  so  easy  a  point  to  manage.  Mrs. 
Grenville  never  allowed  the  children  to  go  into  the 
kitchen  under  any  pretence,  and  Charles  knew  well 
that,  if  he  disobeyed  her  orders,  there  would  be  an 
end  to  all  experiments  with  Donald  for  all  time 
coming.  Arthur  suggested  he  had  one  sponge-cake, 
— he  would  devote  that  to  the  cause.  But  Charles 
said  that  would  never  do :  there  was  no  savoury  smell 
in  a  sponge-cake  to  make  it  a  temptation  to  Donald, 


9O  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  it  would  therefore  be  no  credit  to  him  if  he 
brought  it  to  them  safely. 

'  Oh,  indeed,  Charles,'  said  Mary,  '  Donald  is  so 
fond  of  sponge-cakes  ;  I  know  he  can  smell  them 
anywhere ;  I  have  seen  him  stand  and  watch,  and 
wag  his  tail  for  ever  such  a  long  time  before  the 
dining-room  sideboard/ 

'  That  is  because  he  knows  cakes  are  kept  there, 
not  because  he  smells  them/  replied  Charles. 

'  He  will  soon  find  there  are  cakes  in  the  tin,  trust 
Donald  for  that/  said  Ernest  '  Let  us  make  a  be- 
ginning :  you  fetch  the  J:in,  Charles,  and,  Arthur, 
you  give  me  the  cake,  and  we  will  try  what  we  can 
do  with  him/ 

Now  one  of  the  accomplishments  which  Ernest 
had  taught  Donald,  and  of  which  he  was  unusually 
proud,  was  to  place  a  piece  of  cake  before  the  dog, 
and  then  make  him  sit  and  look  at  it,  and  not  offer 
to  touch  it  until  the  word  of  command  was  given. 
Accordingly,  this  preliminary  training  was  gone 
through  whilst  Charles  went  to  fetch  the  tin ;  then, 
instead  of  being  allowed  to  munch  up  the  cake  as 
usual,  it  was  removed  from  his  sight,  placed  in  the 
tin,  and  then  the  tin  was  tied  round  his  throat,  and 
he  was  ordered  to  convey  it  from  one  end  of  the 
lawn,  where  Charles  was  placed,  to  the  other,  at 
which  Ernest  was  waiting  to  receive  him. 

But  such  a  degree  of  obedience  and  self-denial 
was  quite  beyond  the  highest  efforts  of  dog  morality. 


Failure  of  the  A  ttempt.  9 1 

Not  only  was  his  accustomed  reward  taken  from 
him,  but  the  can  which  enclosed  it  was  actually  hung 
round  his  neck,  encumbering  his  movements,  and 
knocking  painfully  against  his  legs.  It  was  too 
much  to  expect  that  he  would  patiently  submit. 
In  a  series  of  miserable  strugglings  he  tried  to  free 
himself  from  his  burden,  and  at  length  finding  this 
utterly  beyond  his  power,  he  sat  down  in  the  centre 
of  the  lawn,  and  yelled  as  only  a  Scotch  terrier  in 
an  agony  of  annoyance  can  yell. 

In  spite  of  his  manifest  distress,  poor  Donald 
looked  so  exquisitely  ridiculous,  that  at  first  the 
children  could  do  nothing  but  laugh ;  then,  finding 
that  neither  coaxing  nor  threatening  had  any  effect 
in  making  him  obedient  to  their  will,  they  grew 
angry  and  impatient,  and  it  might  have  gone  hard 
with  their  little  favourite  had  not  Mr.  Grenville 
happened  fortunately  to  come  upon  the  lawn  at  the 
identical  moment;  and  asking  what  they  were  about, 
and  what  was  making  poor  Donald  cry  so  piteously, 
he  heard  the  story  of  George  Stephenson's  dog,  and 
how  they  were  intending  to  make  Donald  just  as 
sagacious. 

'  I  am  afraid  you  are  not  taking  the  same  way  to 
teach  him,  then/  replied  Mr.  Grenville.  *  If  George 
Stephenson  had  been  as  irritable  with  his  dog  as 
you  are  just  now  with  Donald,  I  doubt  very  much 
if  he  would  ever  have  brought  him  his  dinner 
at  all.' 


92  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  But,  uncle !  he  must  be  made  to  obey/  inter- 
posed Charles. 

'  Yes,  but  not  by  being  angry  with  him.  If  once 
you  frighten  him,  you  will  never  get  him  to  do  what 
you  wish  at  all.  It  requires  the  most  extraordinary 
patience  and  perseverance  to  train  an  animal.  You 
must  imitate  these  qualities  of  Mr.  Stephenson,  if 
you  wish  to  obtain  the  same  success.  Here,  Donny, 
come  here/  added  Mr.  Grenville  kindly.  Donald 
crouched  up  to  his  feet,  and  Mr.  Grenville  unloosed 
the  tin,  whose  battered  sides  bore  evidence  of  the 
violence  of  the  struggle. 

'  Poor  dog/  said  Mr.  Grenville.  '  If  he  is  as  much 
hurt  as  the  can,  he  must  be  considerably  bruised. 
Poor  Donny,  poor  Donny/  he  added,  as  he  patted 
him  gently ;  '  see,  he  is  all  in  a  tremble.1 

'Oh!  he  is  a  stupid  little  fellow/  exclaimed  Charles 
crossly. 

'  I  rather  think  it  is  somebody  else  who  is  a  stupid 
little  fellow/  replied  his  uncle,  '  to  be  angry  because 
a  dog  does  not  immediately  understand  his  meaning. 
You  seem  to  expect  more  obedience  from  an  irra- 
tional brute  than  you  yourself  are  often  prepared  to 
give.  How  came  this  tin  here  ? ' 

'  I  brought  it,  uncle ;  it  is  all  my  fault/  said 
Charles.  '  I  never  thought  it  would  get  spoiled/ 

' Well/  replied  his  uncle,  'if  you  will  promise  me 
patiently  and  good-naturedly  to  teach  Donald  to 
wear  it,  I  will  make  you  a  present  of  it  Let  him 


A  Good  Advice.  93 

forget  his  present  fright,  and  then  teach  him  very 
gradually.  It  will  cost  you  much  trouble,  and  you 
will  have  need  of  considerable  patience,  but  he  will 
learn  in  time ;  and  if  you  thus  acquire  a  habit  of 
perseverance,  you  will  have  learned  a  valuable 
lesson  from  the  story  of  George  Stephenson  and 
his  dog.* 


Stcplieiisori  and  his  dog  Spot. 


P.  94. 


STEPHENSQN  S  COTTAGE  AT  WILLINGTON  QUAY. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Stephenson  :  anecdotes  of  his  early  struggles  for  independence,  and 
of  his  untiring  energy  and  perseverance.1 

?AMMA,   do    tell   us    some    more    about 
George  Stephenson/  said  Ernest,  as  the 
children  were  the  next  day  sitting  with 
Mrs.  Grenville.     '  I  want  to  hear  some 
more  stories/ 

'  But  you   make  such   a  strange   application   of 

1  See  Smiles'  Life  of  'Stephenson ,  pp.  27-46. 


96  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

them/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville.  '  Papa  tells  me  you 
frightened  poor  Donald  most  unmercifully  yester- 
day/ 

*  But  we  did  not  mean  to  do  so,  mamma.' 

'  And  besides,  aunt,  added  Charles,  '  we  are  going 
to  make  it  all  right  again.  We  gave  Donald  a 
double  quantity  of  cake  at  tea  last  night,  and  I 
think  he  has  forgotten  all  his  troubles/ 

'  Oh,  that  he  has  not/  said  Ernest ;  '  he  cut  away 
like  mad  this  morning,  when  he  thought  you  were 
going  to  tie  the  tin  round  his  neck  again/ 

Charles  coloured.  'Is  it  not  a  bore,  aunt/  he 
said,  '  that  the  stupid  little  fellow  is  so  frightened  ? 
I  did  not  mean  to  hurt  him,  I  am  sure;  and  this 
morning  I  was  ever  so  gentle,  but  he  would  not  let 
me  come  near  him  with  the  tin ;  and  I  do  not  know 
what  to  do.  I  promised  Uncle  Henry  I  would  per- 
severe till  I  had  taught  him  to  carry  it  all  right;  and 
if  he  will  not  let  me  catch  him,  how  can  I  persevere, 
aunt  ?  It  is  not  my  fault/ 

'You  must  have  patience,  my  love,  until  he  has 
forgotten  his  fright ;  till  then  you  will  only  make 
matters  worse  by  persisting  in  your  experiments. 
I  should  advise  you  to  put  something  nice  in  the 
tin,  and  feed  him  out  of  it,  and  then  let  him  have 
the  tin  to  play  with  it.  He  will  get  used  to  it  in 
that  way/ 

'  But  I  am  afraid,  aunt,  if  we  did  that/  said  Charles, 
'  we  should  never  get  him  to  carry  the  tin  safely  ;  he 


Stephenson  s  Leisure  Time.  97 

would  always  be  wanting  to  get  the  something  nice 
for  himself  to  eat/ 

'  I  do  not  think  he  would,  if  you  gave  him  a  re- 
ward every  time  he  brought  the  tin  safely.  But  I 
really  do  not  know  what  else  to  suggest/ 

1 1  wish  I  could  ask  Mr.  Stephenson/  exclaimed 
Charles.  '  I  wonder  how  he  tamed  his  dog/ 

'  By  kindness  and  patience;  you  maybe  quite  sure 
of  that/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 

'  Oh,  please  do  go  on  telling  us  about  him/  said 
Arthur  ;  *  I  do  so  want  to  know  how  he  got  on  with 
his  learning/ 

'Wonderfully,  considering  the  great  difficulties 
with  which  he  had  to  contend/  replied  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville ;  '  but  then  he  never  wasted  a  moment's  time. 
When  others  were  drinking  and  idling,  George 
Stephenson  was  hard  at  work,  the  only  amuse- 
ments which  he  allowed  himself  being  to  take  a 
good  long  walk  in  the  country  with  some  favourite 
companion,  or  to  go  on  a  bird's-nesting  excursion, 
in  search  of  some  new  object  of  interest.  His  quiet,' 
studious  tastes  of  course  exposed  him  to  the  ridicule 
of  his  more  uproarious  companions  ;  and  it  was  per- 
haps fortunate  that  the  misconduct  of  one  of  these 
men  afforded  Stephenson  an  opportunity  of  showing 
that  peaceful,  regular  habits  are  quite  compatible 
with  a  strong  arm  and  a  brave  heart. 

'  At  the  mine  where  Stephenson  was  brakesman 
there  worked  a  man  of  the  name  of  Nelson,  a  strong, 

G 


98  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

powerful,  vigorous  fellow,  but  of  such  a  violent  tem- 
per that  he  was  the  terror  of  the  whole  neighbour- 
hood, and  by  sheer  dint  of  bullying  he  carried  every- 
thing before  him,  and  lorded  it  just  as  he  pleased 
over  all  his  more  timid  companions.  Very  likely 
Nelson  was  jealous  of  Stephenson,  for  most  men  of 
this  class  hate  superiority  in  another,  which  they 
feel,  though  they  refuse  to  imitate.  Relying  on 
Stephenson  being  as  much  afraid  of  him  as  every 
one  else,  he  one  day  took  occasion  to  swear  at  him 
most  savagely  for  the  awkward  manner  in  which  he 
said  Stephenson  did  his  work.  To  this  language 
Stephenson,  who  knew  quite  as  well  what  he  was 
about  as  Nelson,  would  not  for  a  moment  submit, 
and  so  he  quietly  told  the  bully.  Nelson  only  re- 
iterated his  charge,  and  following  it  up  by  very  in- 
sulting words,  he  ended  by  challenging  his  opponent 
to  settle  their  differences  in  a  fair  and  open  stand- 
up  fight.  To  the  surprise  of  all  the  lookers  on, 
Stephenson  instantly  accepted  the  challenge,  and 
fixing  a  day  when  he  should  be  quite  prepared  to 
meet  his  adversary,  he  returned  with  -the  most  per- 
fect composure  to  the  care  of  his  engine.  The  news 
that  Geordie  Stephenson  was  going  to  fight  Nelson 
spread  like  wildfire  through  the  neighbourhood,  caus- 
ing the  most  unbounded  excitement ;  and  though 
people  were  afraid  openly  to  express  their  ardent 
hopes  that  Nelson  might  get  just  such  a  thrashing  as 
he  deserved,  yet  their  silent  sympathy  was  not  the  less 


A  Fight.  99 

sincere.  There  were  some  few,  however,  who,  think- 
ing the  contest  too  unequal,  and  dreading  even  that, 
it  might  end  in  Stephenson's  death,  would  have  dis- 
suaded him  from  fighting  at  what  seemed  to  them 
such  dreadful  odds ;  but  to  all  their  well-meant  ex- 
postulations he  had  but  one  reply :  "  Never  fear  for 
me  ;  I  will  fight  him."  And  fight  him  he  did,  and 
beat  him  too ;  and  from  that  day  forth  he  would 
have  been  a  bold  man  who  would  have  ventured  to 
find  fault  unjustly  with  George  Stephenson,  or  to 
call  in  question  either  his  spirit  or  his  courage/ 

'  Why,  mamma/  exclaimed  Ernest,  '  I  thought  you 
did  not  approve  of  fighting/ 

'Fighting  for  fighting's  sake  is  what  I  dislike/ 
replied  Mrs.  Grenville ;  '  that  seems  to  me  both 
cowardly  and  brutal :  but  fighting  in  support  of 
some  great  principle,  or  to  protect  the  weak  and 
helpless,  is  often  not  only  justifiable,  but  positively 
necessary.  I  agree  with  our  friend  Tom  Brown:1 
"As  to  fighting,  keep  out  of  it  by  all  means  if  you 
can.  When  the  time  comes,  if  it  ever  should,  that 
you  have  to  say  '  Yes '  or  '  No '  to  a  challenge  to 
fight,  say  '  No '  if  you  can,  only  take  care  to  make 
it  clear  to  yourself  why  you  say  '  No/  It  is  a  proof 
of  the  highest  courage,  if  done  from  Christian  motives ; 
but  do  not  say  '  No '  because  you  fear  a  licking,  and 
pretend  it  is  because  you  fear  God ;  that  is  neither 

1  See  Tom  Browrfs  School  Days,  by  an  Old  Boy. 


ioo  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

Christian  nor  honest.  But  when  you  must  fight, 
fight  it  out,  and  do  not  give  in  whilst  you  can  see 
and  stand  ; " — a  passage  I  was  so  struck  with,  that 
I  know  it  by  heart.  Once  be  quite  clear  what  are 
the  motives  which  actuate  your  conduct ;  be  sure 
that  they  are  noble  and  right  ones,  and  such  as  God 
would  approve,  and  then  fight  as  much  as  you  like. 
Stephenson's  victory  was  of  the  greatest  use,  not 
only  to  him,  but  to  the  whole  neighbourhood  ;  and 
his  character  for  bravery  once  established,  he  had 
but  little  difficulty  in  following  his  own  inclinations. 
He  had  now  a  double  motive  for  wishing  to  lead 
a  quiet,  steady  life,  as  he  had  become  extremely 
attached  to  a  very  sweet,  pretty  girl,  named  Fanny 
Henderson.  Anxious  to  be  married  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  yet  wishing  to  save  a  small  sum  first  to 
buy  the  furniture  necessary  for  commencing  house- 
keeping, it  occurred  to  him  he  might  employ  his 
spare  time  profitably  by  turning  shoemaker  ;  and  he 
set  to  work  with  such  a  hearty  good-will  to  learn 
this  new  trade,  that  in  a  very  short  time  he  was  the 
most  popular  cobbler  in  the  whole  neighbourhood  ; 
and  his  earnings  soon  reaching  the  sum  he  thought 
necessary  to  justify  his  taking  a  cottage,  there  was 
nothing  to  delay  his  marriage ;  and  on  the  28th  of 
November  1802  it  accordingly  took  place,  and  he 
and  his  wife  settled  down  in  their  new  home  at 
Willington  ;  and  a  happy  home  it  was. 

'  Mrs.  Stephenson  was   a  sweet,  bright,  cheerful 


Death  of  Mrs.  Stephenson.  i  o  i 

woman,  just  the  very  person  to  gladden  up  a  poor 
man's  home,  when  he  returned  to  it  tired  out  with 
his  day's  work ;  and  I  question  whether,  amidst  all 
the  luxurious  splendour  of  his  later  life,  George 
Stephenson  did  not  look  back  on  that  first  year  of 
his  married  life,  when  he  used  to  return  home  and 
work  out  his  problems  by  his  humble  but  bright 
and  cheery  fireside,  as  to  one  of  the  happiest  por- 
tions of  his  whole  career.  It  was  well  he  made  the 
most  of  it ;  it  was  destined  to  be  but  a  shortlived 
happiness,  for  soon  after  the  birth  of  their  little  boy, 
Mrs.  Stephenson's  health  gave  way.  It  was  thought, 
that  it  might  be  only  a  temporary  indisposition, 
from  which  she  would  gradually  rally  ;  but,  alas ! 
the  seeds  of  disease  had  taken  root.  The  progress 
of  the  ill  might  be  delayed,  but  could  not  be 
averted.  For  two  years  George  Stephenson  hoped 
against  hope,  and  then,  to  his -inexpressible  grief, 
the  birth  of  a  little  daughter  cost  Mrs.  Stephenson 
her  life.  The  child  lived  only  a  few  months,  and 
then  was  laid  by  its  mother's  side  in  her  early 
grave.  But  Fanny  was  not  forgotten  :  the  memory 
of  her  sweetness,  her  gentleness,  her  beauty,  never 
faded  from  her  husband's  mind.  Neither  the  lapse 
of  years,  nor  the  whirl  of  business,  nor  the  incessant 
claims  which  the  world  arid  society  made  upon  his 
time,  ever  dimmed  his  recollections  of  his  first  love. 
She  held  her  own  place  in  his  heart,  as  warmly  and 
as  vividly  as  when,  in  the  days  of  his  early  struggles, 


IO2  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

she  was  his  joy,  his  support,  his  comforter.  He  loved 
to  trace  all  that  was  good  in  himself  and  his  boy  to 
her  gentle  influence  ;  and  years  and  years  after,  when 
Robert  had  attained  to  fame  and  fortune,  his  father 
would  look  at  him  proudly  and  exclaim,  "  He  owes 
it  all  to  his  mother." 

'  It  was  natural  that  with  this  exceeding  love  for 
his  wife,  Mr.  Stephenson  should  after  her  death 
cling,  more  fondly  than  ever,  to  the  child  who  re- 
mained to  him.  Robert,  his  darling  boy,  became 
his  father's  inseparable  companion  ;  and  to  procure 
.  for  his  son,  when  he  should  be  old  enough  to  profit 
by  them,  those  advantages  of  education,  the  want  of 
which  he  felt  so  acutely  himself,  was  the  one  absorb- 
ing subject  of  George  Stephenson's  thoughts  and 
anxieties.  But  how  was  it  to  be  done  ?  How  was 
he,  a  simple  brakesman,  to  save  such  a  sum  of 
money  as  would  suffice  for  his  purpose  ?  It  was 
hard  matter  enough  to  live,  let  alone  education. 
But  difficulties  never  disheartened  George  Stephen- 
son  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  more  insuperable  they 
appeared,  the  more  they  excited  his  determination 
to  conquer  them.  He  would  deny  himself  in  all 
but  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  and  Robert  should 
obtain  what  he  valued  above  meat  and  drink.  But, 
deny  himself  as  he  would,  his  savings  increased  but 
slowly.  This  was  the  time  of  the  great  Continental 
v/ar.  Provisions  were  extraordinarily  dear ;  and  the 
distress  caused  by  heavy  taxation  was  pressing 


A  Calamity.  103 

cruelly  on  the  lower  orders.     Chance  opened  a  new 
source  of  wealth  to  the  ingenious  mechanic. 

'  One  day  when  George  was  busily  at  work  at  the 
mine,  the  chimney  of  his  cottage  caught  fire  ;  the 
neighbours  ran  to  put  it  out,  deluging  in  their  zeal 
the  chimney  with  water,  which  of  course  made  its 
way  into  the  cottage  below,  covering  everything 
with  soot,  and  spoiling  all  that  could  be  ruined  by 
dampness.  Amongst  the  articles  that  suffered  was 
a  clock,  the  most  precious  of  all  his  household 
stores.  It  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Stephenson  to 
come  home  and  find  his  poor  friend  silenced,  whilst 
its  hands  pointed  motionless  to  the  time  of  its  de- 
cease. What  was  to  be  done  ?  If  his  clock  was  sent 
to  a  clockmaker  to  be  repaired,  he  must  of  course 
be  paid  for  his  work,  and  that  was  so  much  taken 
from  Robert's  schooling.  Why  should  he  not  put  it 
to  rights  himself?  True  enough,  he  had  never  done 
anything  of  the  sort,  but  there  must  have  been  a 
time  when  the  most  expert  clockmaker  who  ever 
lived  had  been  in  the  same  predicament :  why  should 
he  not  do  what  another  man  had  already  done  ?  He 
could  make  an  engine  go :  why  could  he  not  make 
a  clock  go  likewise  ?  Accordingly  the  clock  was 
taken  down,  and  its  works  carefully  studied,  until 
the  principle  of  its  mechanism  was  thoroughly  under- 
stood. Then  commenced  the  work  of  reparation, 
costing  him  many  hours  of  patient  thought,  until  at 
length  he  had  the  delight  01  seeing  his  friend  once 


IO4  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

more  established  in  his  old  niche,  and  hearing  him 
tick  out  his  gratitude  with  a  loud  and  regular  beat. 
The  story  of  this  new  achievement  was  soon  spread 
abroad,  and  petitions  poured  in  from  the  owners  of 
all  the  invalid  clocks  in  the  neighbourhood,  that 
they  also  might  be  put  to  rights  ;  until  at  length 
George  Stephenson's  fame  as  clock-mender  must 
have  caused  a  panic  amongst  the  regular  members 
of  the  profession,  while  it  added  materially  to  the 
weekly  savings  of  the  self-taught  artist. 

'  It  is  an  old  saying,  but  a  very  true  one,  "  That 
we  none  of  us  know  what  we  can  do  till  we  try." 
It  is  because  we  will  not  give  our  minds  to  our 
occupations,  and  set  about  them  with  downright 
earnestness,  as  George  Stephenson  did,  that  we  fall 
so  far  short  of  the  success  which  he  obtained.  Not 
but  that  he  was  a  very  remarkable  man,  for  the 
qualities  of  his  heart  were  quite  as  good  as  those  of 
his  head  ;  and  fond  as  I  am  of  intellectual  power,  I 
must  confess  that  this  is  not  always  the  case. 

'  Not  very  long  after  his  wife's  death,  Stephenson 
received  an  offer  from  a  Scotch  firm  who  had  large 
works  near  Montrose,  that  he  should  take  employ- 
ment under  them,  and  superintend  the  working  of 
one  of  those  engines  of  Boulton  and  Watt  which 
had  for  so  long  been  the  object  of  his  admiration. 
Stephenson  had  nothing  now  to  tie  him  down  to  his 
own  old  home,  and  the  remuneration  offered  to  him 
at  Montrose  was  so  much  higher  than  that  which 


Stephenson  at  Montrose.  105 

he  received  as  brakesman  at  Killingworth,  that  he 
determined  at  once  to  close  with  the  offer,  thinking 
that  he  should  now  have  the  opportunity  of  saving 
a  considerable  sum  of  money,  which  could  all  be 
laid  by  for  Robert's  education.  Full  of  this  one 
idea,  Stephenson  made  all  his  arrangements  as 
quickly  as  possible,  placed  his  boy  with  a  friend 
on  whose  care  he  hoped  he  might  fully  rely,  and 
then,  bidding  his  darling  good-bye,  he  started  on 
his  solitary  journey  with  a  brave  spirit,  though 
somewhat  heavy  heart. 

'  Arrived  at  Montrose,  he  entered  immediately  on 
his  new  duties,  and  made  his  arrangements  for  living 
as  economically  as  possible,  spending  every  hour  in 
work  that  was  not  actually  needed  for  rest  and  for 
refreshment.  Unfortunately,  before  Stephenson  had 
been  very  long  in  his  new  situation,  his  active  spirit 
conceived  a  notion  that  he  could  make  some  im- 
provement in  the  engine  of  which  he  had  the  charge. 
He  might  have  been  right  enough ;  but  his  scientific 
knowledge  could  hardly  at  that  time  have  been  equal 
to  that  of  so  experienced  an  engineer  as  James  Watt, 
consequently  his  experiment  failed.  His  employers 
were  dissatisfied,  and  Stephenson  was  told  that  his 
services  were  no  longer  required.  This  must  have 
been  a  sad  blow,  just  at  the  very  moment  when  he 
was  laying  by  a  sufficiency  for  his  darling  purpose. 
However,  it  could  not  be  helped  ;  he  must  make  the 
best  of  it,  and  seek  employment  elsewhere.  He 


io6  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

might,  very  likely,  easily  have  obtained  what  he 
sought  in  Scotland,  but  he  was  longing  to  see  Robert 
again  ;  his  own  people  understood  him  best,  he  felt ; 
and  if  he  was  to  attain  to  celebrity,  it  must  be 
amongst  those  with  whom  already  he  had  obtained 
a  certain  prestige.  So,  with  the  £28  which  he  had 
saved,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  back  again  to 
Newcastle,  and  there  to  seek  occupation  amongst 
old  friends. 

'  A  curious  story  is  told  of  his  journey  back  again. 
Not  wishing  to  encroach  upon  the  sum  he  had  put 
away  for  Robert,  he  travelled  on  foot,  contenting 
himself  with  the  plainest  possible  fare,  and  drinking 
only  a  good  draught  of  water  from  some  of  the  bright 
sparkling  streams  he  passed  by  the  way.  Evening 
was  drawing  on  ;  he  had  had  a  more  than  usually 
fatiguing  day's  march,  when,  tired  and  hungry,  he 
was  crossing  a  moorland,  where  he  saw  not  a  sign  of 
a  habitation.  Suddenly  a  bright  light  glimmered 
from  a  distance.  There,  then,  perhaps  was  some 
cottage  where  he  could  find  shelter  for  the  night. 
He  made  towards  the  light  immediately,  and  found, 
to  his  great  joy,  that  it  proceeded  from  the  window 
of  a  farmhouse.  Stephenson  knocked  at  the  door. 
It  was  opened  by  the  farmer  himself;  and  Stephen- 
son  made  known  his  wants,  and  begged  for  a  night's 
shelter.  But  those  were  perilous  times  :  the  country 
was  unsettled,  and  robbers  were  very  frequent  visi- 
tors to  lonely  and  unprotected  houses.  No  wonder, 


An  Adventure.  107 

then,  that  the  farmer  refused  admission  to  a  per- 
fect stranger,  who,  tired  and  worn  out  with  his  day's 
march,  and  in  his  common  working  dress,  very 
probably  looked  to  the  good  man  of  the  house  a 
somewhat  suspicious  character.  Nothing  daunted 
by  his  refusal,  Stephenson  begged  that  if  he  would 
not  admit  him  indoors,  he  would  kindly  let  him  have 
a  little  clean  straw  in  an  outhouse.  "  He  wanted 
nothing,"  he  said,  "  but  a  night's  rest,  and  surely  the 
farmer  would  not  refuse  that  to  a  poor,  houseless 
traveller."  The  sound  of  Stephenson's  cheery  voice 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  farmer's  wife ;  so  out 
she  came  from  the  kitchen  to  see  what  all  the  talking 
was  about,  and  what  the  stranger  wanted  with  her 
husband. 

'  Women  are  generally  gifted  with  a  quicker 
power  of  perception  than  men  :  their  judgment  may 
not  be  so  good  in  the  long  run,  but  certainly  every 
now  and  then  they  jump  to  the  best  conclusions. 
No  sooner  did  the  good  dame  set  eyes  upon 
Stephenson,  than  she  read  in  his  open  countenance 
a  guarantee  for  his  honesty ;  and  drawing  her  hus- 
band aside,  she  so  worked  upon  his  feelings,  that 
he  not  only  gave  Stephenson  permission  to  come 
inside  the  house  and  rest  himself,  but  offered  him 
cordially  a  share  of  their  evening  meal.  The  good 
people  must  have  wondered  who  they  had  got  with 
them  ;  for  Stephenson,  grateful  for  their  kindness, 
exerted  himself  to  be  as  agreeable  as  possible,  and 


io8  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

told  story  after  story,  and  anecdote  after  anecdote, 
till  it  was  far  on  in  the  night  before  any  of  them 
thought  of  going  to  bed  ;  and  the  next  morning, 
when  Stephenson,  after  thanking  them  for  their 
hospitality,  begged  to  be  allowed  to  make  a  proper 
remuneration,  his  host  and  hostess  angrily  scouted 
such  a  notion.  "  His  stories  were  worth  more  than 
the  bread  and  cheese  which  he  had  eaten,"  they 
said,  "  or  the  ale  which  he  had  drunk."  They  only 
asked  one  thing  of  him,  "  that  he  would  never  pass 
that  way  without  coming  to  see  them."  Little  any 
of  the  party  thought  how  the  promise  Stephenson 
then  gave  them  would  be  afterwards  redeemed. 

'  Years  passed  away,  and  very  possibly  the  good 
farmer  and  his  wife,  even  if  they  remembered  the 
very  entertaining  visitor  chance  had  thrown  in  their 
way,  had  quite  given  up  any  idea  of  ever  seeing 
him  again,  when  one  day  a  travelling  carnage,  per- 
fect in  its  appointments,  drew  up  before  their  door. 
The  farmer  and  his  wife  had  grown  old  then,  but  I 
daresay  they  made  the  best  haste  they  could  to 
receive  with  all  due  honour  such  an  unexpected 
guest  Quick  as  the  woman  had  once  been  to  find 
out  Stephenson's  worth,  she  must  have  been  quicker 
still,  if,  in  the  well-dressed,  striking-looking  man, 
who  now  came  forward  cordially  to  greet  her,  she 
recognised  at  once  the  wayworn  traveller  who  had 
years  ago  claimed  and  received  her  hospitality. 
All  England  was  ringing  now  with  his  deeds,  and 


Stephensoris  Simple  Habits.  109 

many  of  the  first  houses  in  the  land  were  eager  to 
open  their  doors  to  admit  the  man  who,  by  his 
genius,  had  produced  a  complete  change  in  the 
social  condition  of  the  world,  and  given  to  England 
a  new  era  of  commercial  greatness.  But  Stephen- 
son,  simple  in  prosperity  as  he  had  been  patient  in 
adversity,  did  not  forget  the  humble  friends  who 
had  so  generously  received  and  entertained  him  in 
his  hour  of  want.  Now  was  his  turn  to  show  kind- 
ness and  generosity,  and  he  was  only  too  glad  to 
have  the  opportunity  of  returning  it  tenfold. 

'  It  is  curious  to  find  how  much  stranger  things 
happen  in  real  life  than  any  which  a  novelist  would 
dare  to  introduce  into  his  stories.  It  is  this  which 
makes  me  think  biography  so  much  the  most  in- 
teresting of  all  studies ;  and  it  has  the  additional 
advantage,  that,  being  perfectly  true,  the  stories  we 
hear  are  an  encouragement  to  ourselves  "  to  go  and 
do  likewise." ' 

'  Well,  then,  Aunt  Helen/  said  Charles,  laughing, 
'  suppose  I  invite  in  the  very  next  man  who  comes 
to  the  door  to  beg ;  do  you  give  me  leave  ? ' 

*  Certainly,  if  you  are  sure  it  is  a  George  Stephen- 
son  to  whom  you  are  giving  the  invitation.  But 
remember  he  did  not  come  to  beg,  and  remember 
also,  Charles,  that  if  you  merely  listen  to  what  is 
good  or  noble  or  generous,  for  the  sake  of  turning 
it  into  fun,  and  think  you  show  your  wit  or  your 
wisdom  by  overlooking  the  real  point  of  a  story, 


no  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  fixing  on  some  secondary  and  absurd  deduc- 
tion, your  wit  will  be  of  very  little  use  to  you,  and 
your  wisdom  will  hardly  earn  for  you  the  applause 
of  the  only  class  of  persons  whose  approbation  is 
worth  having/ 

It  was  seldom  Mrs.  Grenville  spoke  so  severely, 
and  Charles  blushed  crimson  at  his  aunt's  rebuke. 
'  I  did  not  mean  to  say  what  was  wrong,  Aunt 
Helen/  he  added. 

'  I  daresay  you  did  not/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville  ; 
'  you  only  meant  to  say  what  you  considered  funny  ; 
and  that  is  too  much  not  only  your  tendency,  but 
the  tendency  of  the  present  day.  No  matter  how 
good,  or  how  amiable,  or  how  high-toned  an  action 
may  be,  it  is  sacrificed  without  remorse  to  the  love 
of  a  joke.  I  cannot  bear  the  spirit  that  this  thirst 
for  the  ridiculous  engenders :  once  admit  it  as  your 
principle  of  action,  and  it  eats  at  the  root  of  every- 
thing that  is  good  and  noble,  until  at  last  the  very 
power  of  appreciating  what  is  excellent  or  beautiful 
is  blunted,  if  not  wholly  lost/ 

'  Oh  aunt !  I  never  thought  of  such  a  result  as 
that/  exclaimed  Charles  ;  '  I  should  be  very  sorry  if 
I  ever  became  so  bad  as  that/ 

'  I  am  sure  you  would,  my  dear  boy,  and  there- 
fore I  want  to  warn  you  in  time,  for  this  love  of 
turning  everything  into  ridicule  grows  rapidly  and 
imperceptibly  upon  a  person  ;  and  though  I  should 
be  the  last  to  desire  to  put  any  undue  restraint  upon 


Accident  to  his  Father.  1 1 1 

your  naturally  high  spirits,  yet  you  must  be  upon 
your  guard  not  to  let  your  love  of  what  is  droll 
make  you  unmindful  that  there  are  far  higher 
qualities  than  drollery,  and  many  occasions  when 
to  give  way  to  our  ludicrous  impressions  is  not 
only  in  bad  taste,  but  positively  wrong.  However, 
I  do  not  wish  to  say  any  more  about  it  now ;  we 
will  return  to  the  far  pleasanter  subject  of  George 
Stephenson  and  his  adventures. 

'  On  his  arrival  at  hdme,  he  found  sad  news  await- 
ing him:  his  poor  father  had  met  with  a  most  dread- 
ful accident.  Whilst  he  was  employed  in  attending 
to  his  engine,  a  fellow-workman  had  accidentally 
turned  some  steam  on  to  his  face.  The  accident 
was  done  in  a  moment,  but  the  mischief  was  irre- 
parable :  the  poor  man  became  perfectly  blind.  It 
was  doubly  sad  for  him  :  he  was  getting  old ;  he  had 
nothing  to  depend  upon  for  his  subsistence  but  his 
labour;  his  sons  could  only  just  manage  to  keep 
themselves  :  what  was  to  become  of  him  ?  Matters 
grew  daily  worse  ;  and  when  George  returned  home, 
it  was  to  find  his  poor  old  father  blind  and  help- 
less, and  overwhelmed  with  debt.  It  was  a  terrible 
blow.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  There  were  his 
earnings,  certainly  ;  Robert's  school-money, — that 
money  for  which  he  had  risen  early  and  worked 
late,  and  denied  himself  almost  the  bare  necessaries 
of  life  :  must  that  be  given  up  ?  The  question  was 
soon  decided.  Robert  was  young, — he  could  afford 


ii2  The  Triunipfis  of  Steam. 

to  wait  a  while  longer  for  his  schooling ;  his  father 
was  old, — if  he  let  slip  this  opportunity  of  helping 
him,  how  did  he  know  that  another  would  ever  be 
granted  ?  He  would  do  his  present  duty,  and  trust 
that  a  way  would  be  opened  at  some  future  time  for 
providing  for  the  education  of  his  son.  To  decide 
was  to  act.  George  Stephenson  paid  his  father's 
debts,  and  then  removed  him  to  a  neat,  pretty  little 
cottage,  where  he  supported  him  for  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  The  sacrifice  must  have  seemed  great 
at  the  time,  but  it  was  not  made  in  vain  ;  and  God, 
who  even  in  this  life  rarely  allows  a  good  action 
to  go  unrewarded,  gave  him  other  means  of  provid- 
ing for  his  son,  whilst  the  noble  example  he  had 
set  him,  of  generosity  and  self-denial,  was  of  more 
value  than  the  most  costly  education  money  could 
have  procured. 

'  For  the  moment,  however,  matters  looked  gloomy 
enough.  Stephenson's  earnings  were  all  gone,  and 
he  had  to  return  to  his  old  occupation  as  brakes- 
man. This  was  very  disheartening;  and  nothing 
but  the  sustaining  consciousness  that  he  was  doing 
his  duty  could  have  upheld  him  during  the  per- 
plexities and  difficulties  which  now  hemmed  in  his 
path :  indeed,  so  insuperable  did  they  at  one  time 
appear,  that  he  thought  seriously  of  giving  up  his 
present  situation  and  emigrating  to  America,  to 
try  his  fortune  in  a  new  world.  Fortunately  for 
himself  and  for  England,  he  was  diverted  from  his 


Stephensoris  Ideas  Ridiculed.  1 1 3 

purpose.  Brighter  days  were  in  store,  though  at 
present  there  was  only  a  faint  glimpse  of  the  com- 
ing light.  Meanwhile  he  returned  to  his  old  trade 
of  clock-mending — spending  all  his  leisure  hours 
in  this  manner,  or  in  mending  shoes,  or  in  tailoring ; 
in  which  latter  trade  he  attained  to  such  celebrity, 
that  Stephenson's  cut  became  as  well  known  in  the 
Newcastle  mines  as  D'Orsay's  in  the  ring  of  Hyde 
Park.  However,  a  new  and  more  profitable  occu- 
pation than  any  of  these  was  about  to  be  opened 
to  him,  and  one  in  every  way  fitted  to  develope 
the  fine  powers  of  his  mind. 

'  In  a  new  pit  which  had  been  formed  not  very 
far  from  the  one  in  which  Stephenson  worked,  an 
engine  had  been  erected  for  the  purpose  of  pump- 
ing out  the  water.  At  the  time  that  it  was  being 
built,  Stephenson  had  gone  to  look  at  it ;  and  he 
said  directly  it  was  faulty  in  its  principle,  and  that 
if  much  water  collected  in  the  mine,  it  would  be 
utterly  unable  to  do  its  work.  The  men  only 
laughed  at  the  presumption  of  a  common  brakes- 
man venturing  to  find  fault  with  the  operations  of 
a  practical  engineer.  They  laugh  safest  who  laugh 
last.  Stephenson  took  no  notice.  The  engine  was 
finished,  and  the  day  of  trial  came.  In  vain  the 
pumps  were  set  in  action ;  they  failed  entirely  to 
clear  the  mine.  This  was  all  very  provoking,  but  of 
course  it  could  soon  be  rectified.  The  ingenuity  of 
all  the  engineers  in  the  neighbourhood  was  taxed 

H 


H4  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

to  find  the  remedy ;  but  still  the  engine  was  obsti- 
nate, and  still  the  mine  was  full  of  water.  Occa- 
sionally Stephenson  would  walk  over  to  the  pit, 
and  ask  quietly,  "Well,  how  does  she  go  on?" 

'  The  men  were  obliged  to  admit,  "  badly  enough  ;" 
but  no  one  thought  of  applying  to  Stephenson  for 
his  assistance.  At  length,  when  a  whole  year  had 
been  wasted  in  fruitless  endeavours  to  get  the  engines 
to  work,  it  chanced  that  one  afternoon  Stephenson 
paid  a  visit  to  the  pit,  and  found  the  men  more  than 
usually  put  out  with  their  refractory  engine.  Deter- 
mined to  satisfy  himself  as  to  whether  he  was  right 
or  wrong  in  his  suppositions,  Stephenson  made  a 
careful  and  thorough  examination  of  it  in  all  its 
parts. 

'  "Well,"  said  one  of  the  men,  half  jestingly,  when 
he  had  finished,  "what  can  you  make  out  of  it  ?" 

' "  That  if  this  engine  was  in  my  care,"  replied 
Stephenson,  "  I  would  have  the  mine  dry  enough 
for  you  all  to  be  at  the  bottom  in  a  week." 

'This  bold  assertion  was  repeated  to  the  over- 
seer of  the  mine.  That  Stephenson  could  succeed, 
and  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  where  all  the  best 
engineers  in  the  neighbourhood  had  failed,  seemed 
certainly  improbable  enough :  however,  as  physicians 
could  not  cure  the  disease,  why  not  allow  a  quack 
to  try  what  he  could  do  ?  So  Mr.  Dods  went  to  find 
Stephenson,  and  asked  him  whether  it  was  true  he 
had  made  such  a  daring  boast.  "Only  give  me 


His  Triumphant  Success.  115 

leave  to  do  precisely  what  I  like,"  replied  Stephen- 
son,  "and  to  choose  my  own  men  to  work  under 
me,  and  I  engage  that  in  a  week's  time  your  engine 
shall  be  in  thoroughgoing  order.  Only,  remember, 
I  must  not  be  interfered  with,  and  I  must  be  allowed 
the  entire  control  over  my  gang  of  workmen." 

'Dods  was  too  much  disheartened  with  all  the 
trouble  and  expense  the  unfortunate  engine  had 
already  occasioned,  to  be  very  particular  about  the 
terms  on  which  it  could  be  set  to  rights ;  and  be- 
sides, he  very  likely  felt  that  just  such  determination 
as  Stephenson  now  displayed  was  precisely  what 
was  wanted  to  bring  the  undertaking  to  a  successful 
issue ;  so,  giving  him  carte  blanche  to  do  what  he 
pleased,  he  bade  him  set  to  work  without  the  loss 
of  a  minute's  time.  Stephenson  said  he  must  have 
a  few  hours  to  make  up  his  mind  as  to  the  exact 
course  he  should  adopt,  but  that  on  the  following 
morning  he  and  his  workmen  would  be  at  the  pit's 
mouth.  Punctual  to  a  moment,  he  kept  his  appoint- 
ment. Under  his  superintendence,  the  engine  was 
entirely  taken  to  pieces.  Four  days  were  employed 
in  making  the  necessary  alterations,  and  in  putting 
the  engine  together  again ;  on  the  morning  of  the 
fifth  day  the  pumps  were  put  in  action,  and  before 
four-and-twenty  hours  had  elapsed  the  mine  was 
cleared  out,  the  workmen  were  walking  about  on 
dry  ground  at  the  bottom,  and  the  success  of  the 
indefatigable  brakesman  was  thus  made  abundantly 


1 1 6  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

clear.  Mr.  Dods  was  so  delighted,  that  he  made 
Stephenson  a  present  on  the  spot  of  £10 ;  a  sum 
which  in  after  years  must  have  seemed  to  him  ridi- 
culously small,  but  which  now,  coming  all  at  once, 
appeared  like  a  little  fortune/ 

'And  I  daresay  he  kept  it  all  for  Robert/  ex- 
claimed Arthur. 

'  I  daresay  he  did, — at  least  I  am  sure  he  did 
not  spend  any  on  his  own  amusements/  replied 
Mrs.  Grenville ;  '  for  so  rigidly  did  he  adhere  to 
the  strict  rules  of  conduct  which  he  had  laid  down 
for  himself,  that  when,  a  short  time  afterwards,  Mr. 
Dods,  who  had  taken  a  great  liking  to  him,  invited 
him  one  morning  to  come  and  take  a  glass  of  ale 
with  him,  Stephenson  respectfully  but  firmly  de- 
clined, saying  he  had  quite  made  up  his  mind  to 
allow  himself  no  indulgences  of  the  kind,  lest  he 
might  be  tempted  to  encroach  upon  his  hours  for 
studies,  or  on  the  little  fund  which  he  had  appro- 
priated for  such  much  better  and  higher  purposes.' 

'  What  a  grand  fellow  he  was  !'  said  Ernest.  '  He 
deserved  to  succeed/ 

'  To  deserve  success  is  generally  to  secure  it ;  for, 
as  a  rule,  God  has  mercifully  ordained  that  the 
careful  cultivation  of  the  higher  moral  arid  intel- 
lectual qualities  shall  tend  to  promote  both  our 
prosperity  and  our  happiness :  deeply  grateful  we 
ought  to  be  to  Him  that  He  has  thus  ordained  it. 
But  now  that  we  have  brought  our  hero  to  a  safe 


A  Good  Example.  117 

landing-point,  we  must  leave  him  for  the  present 
to  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  victory.  I  promised 
to  walk  down  to  the  school,  to  look  over  some  new 
books  with  Miss  Jones.* 

'  May  I  go  with  you,  mamma  ?'  asked  Arthur. 
6 1  want  to  see  Willie  Crampton.' 

'Yes,  certainly,  my  love,  if  you  like  it.  Run 
and  get  your  cap ;  I  shall  be  ready  almost  as  soon 
as  you  are/ 

Mrs.  Grenville  had  always  accustomed  her  children 
to  accompany  her  in  such  of  her  visits  to  the  poor 
people  as  they  could  safely  pay,  rightly  judging  that 
the  only  way  in  which  they  could  learn  to  sym- 
pathize with  wants  and  sufferings  from  which  they 
were  so  completely  removed,  was  to  see  for  them- 
selves what  others  were  called  upon  to  endure,  and 
thus  learn  to  thank  God  for  the  happy  lot  which,  in 
His  mercy,  He  had  seen  proper  to  bestow  upon 
them. 

To  Ernest  and  Charles  these  visits  were  some- 
times great  bores :  they  would  rather  have  been 
riding  or  fishing,  or  playing  at  cricket.  Gradually, 
however,  as  they  began  to  feel  the  pleasure  of  doing 
good,  they  learned  to  take  more  and  more  interest 
in  the  well-being  of  others  ;  and  Mrs.  Grenville  hoped 
that,  in  course  of  time,  and  if  they  were  not  injudi- 
ciously urged  on,  they  would  learn  how  much  of  our 
truest  happiness  arises  from  ministering  to  that  of 
others. 


1 1 8  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

With  Arthur  the  case  was  different  His  delicate 
health  prevented  his  entering  freely  into  the  manly 
sports  of  the  other  boys,  and  his  peculiarly  sensitive 
and  refined  nature  found  a  positive  delight  in  sym- 
pathizing with  either  the  joys  or  sorrows  of  others. 
To  see  the  countenance  of  some  poor  little  invalid 
brighten  up,  as  he  offered  flowers  from  the  con- 
servatory, or  a  bunch  of  grapes,  or  two  or  three 
fine  ripe  peaches,  was  to  Arthur  a  positive  delight ; 
and  he  never  would  have  tired  of  reading  his 
favourite  stories  to  a  group  of  eager  little  listeners, 
or  of  imparting  to  those  who  liked  to  learn,  the 
knowledge  of  which  he  was  himself  so  fond  ;  and  he 
would  have  sat  for  hours  teaching  a  child  to  read, 
or  trying  to  make  it  understand  the  rudiments  of 
arithmetic.  With  Arthur,  the  difficulty  was  to  pre- 
vent his  doing  too  much,  and  Mrs.  Grenville  was 
obliged  to  lay  down  strict  rules  as  to  the  times  and 
seasons  when  his  visits  must  alone  be  paid. 

There  was  one  family  of  whom  Arthur  was  par- 
ticularly fond :  the  father  was  a  most  respectable 
man,  a  labourer  at  the  Grange ;  the  mother,  a  hard- 
working, industrious  woman,  who  did  the  very  best 
she  could  to  bring  up  her  children  as  well  as  her 
somewhat  scanty  means  would  allow.  Amongst 
her  children  was  one,  a  remarkably  clever  boy. 
Willie,  it  must  be  confessed,  had  always  been  her 
darling,  and  had  he  not  been  of  a  remarkably  sweet 
nature,  he  would  have  run  a  sad  risk  of  being 


Little  Willie.  1 1 9 

spoiled ;  but  somehow  he  escaped,  and  a  more  de- 
lightful lad  than  Willie,  when  he  was  about  twelve 
years  of  age,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  see. 
'  And  such  a  scholard,  too ! '  as  the  mother  said. 
'  Willie  could  write  like  print,  and  read  like  a  book/ 

But  alas  for  our  human  hopes !  Willie,  the 
pride  of  his  mother's  heart,  was  overtaken  by  one 
of  the  most  terrible  misfortunes  that  can  happen 
to  a  human  being.  Owing  to  an  accident,  thought 
nothing  of  at  the  time,  and  afterwards  too  long 
neglected,  Willie,  it  was  feared,  would  become  quite 
blind. 

Thanks  to  Mrs.  Grenville's  kindness,  he  had  been 
able  to  obtain  the  best  advice,  but  the  oculist  who 
saw  him  gave  little  hopes  ;  the  disease,  he  said,  was 
on  the  nerve  of  the  eye.  It  was  possible,  but  hardly 
probable,  that  the  poor  lad  would  ever  recover  his 
sight.  Great  was  the  sympathy  felt  for  him  through- 
out the  whole  village,  for  Willie  was  a  universal 
favourite ;  but  no  one  sympathized  more  heartily, 
or  did  more  to  alleviate  the  affliction  of  his  poor 
friend,  than  Arthur  ;  and  whenever  he  could  obtain 
his  mother's  permission,  he  was  sure  to  be  found  at 
the  cottage,  reading  or  talking  to  the  blind  boy  ; 
and  Willie  counted  on  those  visits,  and  his  poor 
blind  eyes  brightened  up  at  the  sound  of  Arthur's 
footstep,  and  the  light  touch  of  his  hand  on  the 
latch  of  the  door. 

6  Master  Arthur/   said  Willie,  as  Arthur,  having 


I2O  The  Triitmphs  of  Steam. 

left  his  mother  at  the  schoolhouse,  had  run  on  to 
the  cottage,  and  was  now  sitting  by  Willie's  side, 
'  did  you  ever  hear  tell  of  a  machine  by  which  the 
blind  can  write  ? ' 

'  Yes,  I  have  heard  of  them/  said  Arthur,  '  but  I 
have  never  seen  one/ 

'Do  you  think,  Master  Arthur,  they  are  very 
dear?' 

'  I  do  not  know/  said  Arthur  ;  '  I  will  inquire/ 

Willie  said  no  more  ;  but  Arthur  saw  how  his 
heart  was  set  upon  the  possession  of  his  machine ; 
and  as  he  walked  back  to  the  Grange  with  his 
mother,  he  asked  her  whether  she  could  give  him 
any  idea  what  was  the  price  of  these  writing-desks 
for  the  blind. 

'  I  am  not  quite  sure/  replied  his  mother  ;  '  I  will 
write  to  London  and  inquire/ 

As  soon  as  Arthur  got  home,  he  went  up-stairs  to 
his  own  room,  and  taking  his  purse  out  of  his  desk, 
he  looked  somewhat  sorrowfully  at  its  contents.  By 
his  mother's  advice,  he  had  always  been  in  the  habit 
of  putting  away  some  portion  of  his  allowance  as 
soon  as  he  received  it,  to  be  spent  in  any  little  act 
of  private  charity ;  and  a  very  good  plan  he  found 
it,  because,  this  being  a  separate  fund,  Arthur  no 
longer  considered  it  as  belonging  to  himself,  and 
spent  it  ungrudgingly.  Unfortunately,  his  calls  upon 
it  had  been  rather  large  of  late  ;  nothing  remained 
but  a  portion  of  his  own  private  allowance,  which 


Arthurs  Self-Denial.  121 

he  had  wished  to  appropriate  to  the  purchase  of  an 
expensive  book  on  mechanics  he  had  been  long 
desirous  of  possessing,  and  to  obtain  which  he  had  . 
been  for  some  time  past  saving  every  farthing  that 
he  could  spare.  The  necessary  sum  was  just  com- 
pleted, and  Arthur  had  intended  that  very  evening 
to  speak  to  his  father  about  it,  and  ask  him  to  write 
to  his  bookseller  and  beg  him  to  send  it. 

But  the  request  had  not  been  made,  and  so  the 
money  was  still  his  own.  Arthur  looked  wistfully 
at  a  little  model  which  was  standing  on  a  table  close 
by,  and  which  he  could  not  finish  for  want  of  the 
knowledge  that  very  book  would  convey.  Suddenly 
he  turned  away  his  head,  and  exclaimed  out  loud, 
'  What  did  George  Stephenson  do  ?  and  he  was 
more  tried  than  I  am.  He  was  a  fine,  brave  fellow, 
and  did  his  duty,  and  I  will  pray  to  God  to  enable 
me  to  do  mine  also.  I  can  very  easily  go  without 
my  book  for  a  little  while  longer,  and  Willie  shall 
have  his  desk/  And  Arthur  put  back  the  money, 
and  went  down-stairs  and  joined  in  the  sports  that 
were  going  on,  and  no  one  guessed  the  sacrifice  that 
had  just  been  made  ;  but  God  knew  it,  and  accepted 
it  as  an  offering  made  unto  Himself.  'And  thy 
Father  which  seeth  in  secret/  Arthur,  '  Himself  shall 
reward  thee  openly/ 


MR.  STEPHENSON'S  COTTAGE  AT  KILLINGWORTH. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Stephenson  promoted  to  the  office  of  engineer  of  the  High  Pit — 
Anxiety  for  the  education  of  his  son — Robert's  early  life — The  first 
locomotive — Improvements  in  the  locomotive.1 

JH  aunt !  Aunt  Helen  V  exclaimed  Charles 
as  he  one  morning  ran  into  the  library 
where  Mrs.  Grenville  was  busily  writing, 
'  do  you  know  Donny  has  carried  the 
tin,  and  carried  it  quite  safely?1 

'  Has  he  ?  I  am  glad  of  that/  replied  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville, looking  up  from  her  letter.  '  How  have  you 
managed  it  ?' 

'Why,  aunt/  replied  Charles,  colouring,  'I  have 

1  See  Smiles'  Life  of  Stephenson >  pp.  46-94. 


124  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

not  forgotten  what  you  said  to  me,  and  I  wanted 
to  show  you  I  was  not  quite  such  a  fool  as  I  seemed, 
and  so  I  asked  Arthur  to  help  me  ;  and  I  could 
have  done  nothing  without  Arthur,  he  is  so  gentle, 
and  he  knows  so  well  what  he  is  about ;  and  he  first 
coaxed  Donny,  and  then  we  made  him  play  with 
the  tin,  just  as  you  advised  us  ;  and  then  Arthur 
put  it  very  gently,  very  gently  indeed,  Aunt  Helen, 
round  his  throat,  and  saw  that  it  was  all  right  and 
would  not  knock  against  his  legs ;  and  Donny  did 
not  much  like  it  at  first,  but  we  patted  him,  and  told 
him  he  was  a  good  dog,  and  we  gave  him  some  bits 
of  cake,  and  we  only  let  him  have  it  on  for  a  very 
little  while  ;  and  at  last,  Aunt  Helen,  we  have  got 
him  to  carry  it  as  well  as  possible,  and  he  does  not 
mind  a  bit.  Do  come  and  see/ 

Mrs.  Grenville  laid  down  her  pen  and  followed 
her  nephew  out  on  to  the  lawn,  where  she  found 
Arthur  and  Mr.  Grenville  and  Ernest  awaiting  her 
arrival,  for  the  exhibition  of  Donny's  powers  ;  and 
Arthur  ran  away  to  a  great  tree  quite  at  the  end  of 
the  garden,  and  then  Charles  tied  the  tin  round 
Donny's  neck,  and  told  him  '  to  run  off  and  take  his 
dinner  to  his  master ;'  and  off  ran  Donny,  and  he 
never  stopped  till  he  reached  Arthur,  whilst  Charles 
stood  looking  on  triumphantly  at  this  successful 
issue  to  his  teaching. 

'  I  congratulate  you,  Charles/  said  his  uncle,  turn- 
ing round  and  shaking  hands  with  him,  '  not  so 


Results  of  Perseverance.  125 

much  on  Master  Donald's  performance,  as  on  the 
victory  you  have  gained  over  yourself.' 

'Indeed,  papa,  Charles  has  been  very  persever- 
ing/ said  Ernest ;  '  he  has  given  up  his  rides  and  his 
cricket,  and  all  sorts  of  things.' 

'  Well,  and  he  has  got  his  reward.  This  may  be 
only  a  very  small  matter/  continued  Mr.  Grenville ; 
'but  if  by  teaching  Donald  he  has  learned  the  value 
of  habits  of  patience  and  perseverance,  and  deter- 
mination to  conquer  difficulty,  it  has  not  been  time 
thrown  away.  And  believe  me,  Charles,  many  a 
man  who  has  afterwards  attained  to  fame  and  for- 
tune, has  looked  back  on  his  past  career,  and  been 
able  to  trace  his  success  in  life  to  some  circumstance 
quite  as  trivial  as  that  of  which  we  are  now  speak- 
ing, but  which  first  taught  him  the  value  of  those 
very  qualities,  without  which  the  most  brilliant  wit 
or  genius  will  be,  comparatively  speaking,  useless  to 
their  possessor.' 

'  Oh,  but,  uncle/  exclaimed  Charles,  '  Arthur  de- 
serves your  praise  more  than  I  do ;  I  should  have 
thrown  it  all  up  in  despair  but  for  him.' 

'  Well,  then,  you  must  share  your  laurels/  replied 
Mr.  Grenville ;  '  and  now,  if  you  like  to  celebrate 
your  victory  by  a  good  gallop  over  the  downs,  I 
am  going  to  the  sheep  farm,  and  will  take  you  with 
me/ 

There  was  very  little  doubt  about  Charles's 
answer,  and  perhaps  he  never  felt  happier  than 


126  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

when  he  rode  by  Mr.  Grenville's  side ;  conscious 
that,  by  the  exercise  of  real  self-denial,  he  had  raised 
himself  in  his  uncle's  estimation.  How  many  good 
resolutions  he  formed  that  he  never  would  fall  back 
into  his  old  habits !  Alas,  and  alas  that  it  should 
be  so  very  much  easier  to  resolve  than  to  prac- 
tise! 

'  Now,  Aunt  Helen/  said  Charles,  when  a  day  or 
two  afterwards  the  children  were  sitting  with  her, 
'  you  will  not  be  afraid,  will  you,  to  tell  us  about 
George  Stephenson  ?  I  do  so  want  to  know  what 
became  of  him  after  he  mended  the  engine.' 

'  Mr.  Dods  naturally  thought/  replied  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville,  '  that  no  one  was  so  likely  to  keep  the  engine 
in  repair  as  the  man  who  had  wrought  the  cure  ;  he 
therefore  offered  Stephenson  the  situation  of  engine- 
man  of  the  High  Pit,  a  post  which,  as  it  secured  for 
him  better  wages  than  any  which  he  had  yet  ob- 
tained, Stephenson  was  only  too  glad  to  accept. 
But  this  was  not  all ;  the  fame  of  his  exploit  soon 
spread  through  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  owners 
of  such  engines  as  would  not  work  applied  to  Ste- 
phenson to  cure  their  laziness.  The  consequence  was, 
that  he  had  soon  almost  more  business  on  his  hands 
than  he  could  manage  in  his  spare  hours,  and  busi- 
ness, too,  which  paid  much  better  than  shoe-mending 
or  tailoring.  Besides,  his  constant  practice  of  taking 
to  pieces  and  examining  the  different  engines  gave 
him  the  most  valuable  practical  knowledge  of  their 


Stephenson  Assisted  by  his  Son.        127 

parts  and  method  of  acting,  and  stored  his  mind 
with  new  thoughts  and  ideas,  which  were  at  length 
to  find  their  full  development  in  the  construction 
of  the  locomotive.  Every  moment  which  he  could 
now  give  from  his  positive  duties  was  devoted  to 
building  model  engines,  in  which  he  was  always  in- 
venting and  working  out  some  new  improvement ; 
and  in  this  employment  he  received  the  most  valu- 
able assistance  from  his  son/ 

'What,  from  little  Robert!*  exclaimed  Ernest 
'  I  thought  he  was  quite  a  child/ 

'  So  he  was/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville  ;  'but  he  was  a 
most  extraordinary  boy ;  and,  fortunately  for  him, 
his  father  was  not  yet  a  rich  man,  for  if  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson had  then  been  wealthy,  as  he  afterwards 
became,  possibly  his  son  might  have  been  a  dif- 
ferent class  of  man.  It  required  all  the  hardships 
and  the  difficulties  with  which  Robert  had  to  con- 
tend when  young  to  bring  to  maturity  those  fine 
talents  which  have  since  not  only  placed  him  at 
the  head  of  his  profession,  but  made  him  the  com- 
panion of  all  the  most  celebrated  men  of  the  day. 
I  remember  his  once  complaining  to  me  how  dif- 
ferent the  young  men  were  now  to  what  they  were 
some  years  ago, — how  almost  impossible  it  was  to 
find  any  one  who  was  thoroughly  hard-working  and 
relf-reliant, — and  I  could  not  help  thinking  at  the 
time,  that  much  of  the  fault  was  owing  to  the  luxu- 
rious and  self-indulgent  habits  of  the  present  day, 


128  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

destructive  as  they  are  to  all  healthy  vigour,  whether 
of  mind  or  body/ 

'  Why,  mamma/  exclaimed  Ernest, ( do  you  know 
Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  ?' 

'Yes,  I  have  long  known  and  honoured  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson/ replied  Mrs.  Grenville ;  '  and  more  than 
that,  I  always  feel  that  I  owe  him  a  real  debt  of 
gratitude  for  having  once  reproved  me  very  severely/ 

1  Oh  mamma,  you  are  in  fun  P 

'  No,  I  am  not ;  I  am  thoroughly  in  earnest.  It 
was  wise  counsel  that  he  gave  me ;  and  though  I 
was  young  then,  I  felt  the  full  truth  of  what  he  said 
to  me,  and  have  always  since  acknowledged  that  I 
have  to  thank  Mr.  Stephenson  mainly  for  those 
habits  of  self-reliance  and  of  perseverance  which  I 
have  found  so  valuable  to  myself,  and  which  I  am 
so  anxious  ttfat  you  should  all  acquire.'1 

1  Alas  !  that  since  these  lines  were  written,  he  whose  counsels  were 
so  valued,  whose  friendship  was  so  highly  prized,  has  passed  away 
from  amongst  us.  With  loving  reverence  England  has  mourned  for 
her  lost  son,  according  to  him  the  highest  reward  it  is  in  her  power  to 
bestow, — an  honoured  grave  amongst  her  wisest  and  her  noblest  and 
her  best.  This  is  a  nation's  tribute  to  his  genius  :  to  his  worth  a 
higher  still  is  paid,  in  the  love  and  grief  of  the  large  circle  of  friends, 
who  feel  that  in  losing  Robert  Stephenson  they  have  lost  him  on  whom 
they  most  relied, — one  whose  spirit  was  as  gentle  as  his  heart  was 
brave,  whose  sympathy  was  as  ready  as  his  judgment  was  sound, 
whose  intellect  was  as  acute  as  his  humility  was  profound.  Those 
who  knew  Robert  Stephenson  cannot  hope  to  supply  the  void  that 
death  has  made ;  they  must  be  content  to  remember  that  they  once 
called  him  friend. 


Robert  Stephensoris  Early  Training.    129 

'  Oh,  I  should  so  like  to  see  him ! '  exclaimed 
Ernest. 

'  So  should  I/  said  Arthur ;  '  he  would  tell  me  all 
about  my  engines.' 

'  Yes,  and  it  would  be  such  fun/  added  Charles, 
'to  see  any  one  who  had  scolded  Aunt  Helen!  I 
wonder  whether  he  remembers  it,  aunt  ?' 

'  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know ;  it  is  a  long  while 
ago/ 

'  Mamma,  do  you  think  he  would  come  and  stay 
here  if  papa  asked  him  ? '  inquired  Arthur. 

'No,  I  should  think  not  He  has  no  time  now 
for  paying  visits  to  explain  engines  to  little  boys/ 

'But  I  am  glad  you  know  him,  mamma/  added 
Ernest ;  '  it  will  all  seem  so  much  more  true  now,  I 
shall  like  the  story  twice  as  well/ 

'Why,  my  dear  boy,  do  you  think  I  was  in- 
venting ?  * 

'  Oh  no,  mamma !  of  course  not ;  but  it  does 
make  it  all  seem  so  much  more  life-like ;  and  be- 
sides, now  I  shall  think,  perhaps  I  shall  see  Mr. 
Stephenson  some  day  myself :  who  knows  ?  * 

'  More  impossible  things  have  happened,  certainly. 
But  I  must  go  back  to  the  time  when  Robert  was 
a  child,  much  younger  than  any  of  you  are  now. 
From  his  earliest  boyhood  his  father  had  made  him 
his  companion,  and  Robert  returned  his  affection 
with  a  love  as  entire  as  it  was  unselfish.  There  was 
no  delight  to  him  so  great  as  to  be  able  to  help  his 

I 


1 30  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

father,  and  a  very  important  service  he  was  enabled 
at  this  time  to  render  him.  In  pursuance  of  the 
plan  he  had  formed,  Mr.  Stephenson  sent  Robert 
to  school  with  the  very  first  money  he  had  to  spare, 
and  Robert  made  such  use  of  his  instruction,  that 
by  the  time  he  was  seven  or  eight  years  old  he  had 
far  outstepped  his  father's  acquirements.  He  had 
always  evinced  a  decided  taste  for  mathematics,  and 
this  taste  was  early  strengthened  and  called  into 
exercise.  There  was  nothing  that  Mr.  Stephenson 
liked  better  than  to  sit  down  quietly,  on  his  return 
home  from  his  day's  labour,  and  work  out,  with 
Robert's  assistance,  the  different  problems  on  which 
his  mind  might  happen  to  be  intent.  It  must  have 
been  a  curious  sight,  that  cottage  home — its  bright, 
cheery  fire — its  miscellaneous  furniture,  everything 
odd  and  singular  that  Stephenson  could  make  or 
collect,  and  its  walls  covered  with  models  of  every 
size  and  description  ;  and  there,  surrounded  by  these 
evidences  of  his  skill  and  ingenuity,  sat  the  father 
and  the  son — the  calm,  thoughtful,  intelligent  man, 
the  eager,  loving,  earnest  boy.  How  often  in  after 
years  must  they  have  looked  back  to  those  evenings, 
when,  hour  after  hour,  Robert  would  sit  happily  by 
his  father's  side  working  out  the  problems,  the  full 
meaning  of  which  he  could  not  yet  understand,  but 
which  he  had  a  dim  foreshadowing  were  to  end  in 
some  great  success ;  and  when  that  end  came,  I  have 
sometimes  wondered  whether  they  did  not  look  back 


His  Scientific  Experiments.  131 

to  those  winter  evenings  with  something  very  like 
regret  that  they  had  passed  away  for  ever.  The 
world  can  give  fame  and  riches,  but  it  cannot  give 
such  love  and  sympathy. 

'But  though  Robert's  chief  delight  was  to  im- 
prove as  much  as  possible  in  his  learning  that  he 
might  help  his  father,  yet  his  studies  did  not  inter- 
fere one  bit  with  his  love  of  fun  and  play  ;  he  was 
a  thorough  boy,  up  to  all  sorts  of  mischief,  and  his 
scientific  experiments  became  at  length  a  terror  to 
the  neighbourhood.  Amongst  other  books  which 
fell  into  his  hands  was  a  Life  of  Franklin.  No 
sooner  had  he  read  the  method  by  which  Franklin 
drew  lightning  from  the  clouds,  than  he  was  seized 
with  an  irresistible  longing  to  do  the  same  thing 
himself.  But  how  was  he  to  obtain  the  means  of 
performing  the  experiment  ?  He  might,  indeed, 
manufacture  the  kite,  but  its  materials  would  cost 
money  ;  and  so  would  the  wire,  and  the  silk  that  he 
would  require  as  a  non-conductor.  He  did  not  like 
to  ask  his  father  for  the  money,  fearing  lest  he 
should  be  forbidden  to  pursue  his  perilous  amuse- 
ment. He  looked  earnestly  at  his  little  stock  of 
wealth,  a  few  pennies;  but  they  were  soon  expended, 
and  yet  he  had  not  bought  half  that  he  required  for 
the  manufacture  of  his  apparatus.  Fortunately  for 
him,  his  father's  example  had  not  been  thrown  away 
upon  him ;  he  had  seen  how  patiently  and  steadily 
his  father  had  held  on  his  way,  grappling  with  each 


132  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

new  difficulty  as  it  arose,  and  invariably  the  con- 
queror. So  Robert  took  heart.  Occasionally  he 
would  earn  a  few  pence,  occasionally  a  few  would 
be  given  him,  and  off  he  would  run  to  the  village 
shop  to  buy  fresh  materials  to  continue  his  favourite 
work.  At  length  it  was  completed.  Oh !  how 
anxiously  he  watched  the  clouds  for  a  fit  day  for 
his  experiment !  and  then,  unseen  by  any  one,  out 
he  stole  into  the  fields  to  try  his  experiment  upon 
some  neighbour's  cows.  Poor  things,  little  they 
knew,  as  they  were  quietly  chewing  the  cud,  the 
fate  that  was  in  store  for  them.  Having  fixed  and 
prepared  his  apparatus,  Robert  let  fly  his  kite.  His 
success  possibly  surprised  him  as  much  as  it  did  the 
cows  :  the  electric  shock  was  tremendous,  and  set 
the  poor  creatures  scudding  all  over  the  fields  with 
their  tails  on  end,  terrified  half  out  of  their  senses. 
This  was  far  too  great  fun  not  to  be  repeated,  and 
complaints  were  soon  brought  to  Mr.  Stephenson  of 
his  son's  mischievous  propensities,  with  a  request 
that  for  the  future  his  scientific  experiments  might 
be  tried  only  on  what  belonged  to  himself.  Robert 
was  reproved,  but  I  am  afraid  to  little  purpose,  for 
he  continued  to  practise  his  favourite  occupation 
whenever  the  opportunity  presented  itself;  and  a 
great  mercy  it  is  he  did  not  do  any  real  mischief, 
or  draw  down  the  lightning  upon  himself,  of  which 
danger  he  certainly  ran  an  awful  risk.' 

'  Then  he   did   do  naughty  things  occasionally/ 


His  Dislike  to  Drawing.  133 

said   Charles ;   €  that  is  some  comfort.      I  had  felt 
quite  oppressed  with  his  goodness/ 

'He  was  like  the  rest  of  us,  I  suppose/  replied 
Mrs.  Grenville,  smiling ;  '  and,  fortunately  for  him, 
his  father,  devotedly  attached  to  him  as  he  was,  was 
never  weakly  or  foolishly  indulgent,  and  Robert  was 
quite  aware  that  if  he  did  what  was  wrong,  a  good 
sound  whipping  would  be  the  inevitable  consequence. 
So  strict  was  Mr.  Stephenson,  that  he  would  not  even 
allow  of  a  lesson  being  idly  and  badly  done.  He 
knew  perfectly  well,  that  the  secret  of  all  true  success 
lies  in  the  mind  being  wholly  given  to  the  occupa- 
tion on  which  it  is  for  the  time  employed.  "  What- 
ever you  do  must  be  thoroughly  done."  This  was  the 
maxim  on  which  he  himself  acted,  and  he  took  care 
that  Robert  should  do  the  same.  Now,  if  there  was 
one  thing  that  Robert  disliked  when  he  was  a  boy, 
it  was  learning  to  draw.  But  Mr.  Stephenson  had 
made  up  his  mind  his  boy  was  to  be  an  engineer, 
and  to  attain  to  any  eminence  in  his  profession,  it 
was  indispensably  necessary  that  he  should  be  a 
good  draughtsman.  Accordingly,  he  placed  Robert 
under  the  care  of  a  Mr.  Parker,  the  best  master 
in  that  part  of  the  country.  Robert,  however,  pro- 
fited little  by  his  instructions ;  and  no  sooner  was 
the  master's  back  turned  than  Robert  would  be 
amusing  himself  with  his  calculations,  or  his  model- 
ling, or  his  scientific  toys,  or,  in  fact,  with  any  of  his 
numerous  occupations,  which  he  liked  better  than 


1 34  The  Triiimphs  of  Steam. 

his  drawing.  It  so  happened  that  when  he  was  one 
day  thus  following  his  own  devices,  he  saw  the  door 
open  of  the  adjoining  room  where  Mr.  Parker  was 
at  work,  and  his  father  walk  up  to  his  master's 
easel. 

' "  Well,"  said  Mr.  Stephenson,  "  and  how  does  my 
son  come  on  ?  " 

' "  Your  son  ! "  replied  Mr.  Parker ;  "  he  is  the 
laziest  dog  I  have  ever  had  anything  to  do  with." 

'  Robert  started  as  he  heard  these  words.  "  Ah  !  " 
thought  he,  "  there  is  a  flogging  for  me."  And  sure 
enough  it  came,  before  many  more  minutes  had  been 
allowed  to  pass. 

4  On  the  whole,  however,  Robert  was  a  wonder- 
fully good  boy,  and  the  steady  progress  he  made  in 
his  studies  was  something  quite  surprising.  Fortu- 
nately, his  father  was  now  able  to  send  him  to  a 
much  better  school.  Mr.  Stephenson's  prospects 
were  steadily  brightening :  he  was  appointed  col- 
liery engineer,  a  situation  of  great  trust,  and  which 
brought  him  into  constant  communication  with  the 
owners  of  the  mines,  men  of  rank  and  education, 
who  were  fully  able  to  understand  and  appreciate 
his  vigorous  and  straightforward  character,  and  who 
were  afterwards  of  great  use  to  him  in  enabling  him 
to  carry  out  his  plans ;  more  especially  with  regard 
to  the  locomotive,  the  construction  of  which  engine 
was  now  beginning  to  occupy  all  his  thoughts  and 
spare  time.  Something  of  the  sort  had  already  been 


A  Self -Acting  Incline.  135 

tried  at  a  neighbouring  colliery,  and  great  wonder 
had  the  monstrous  engine  excited  when  it  was  first 
placed  upon  the  rails  and  set  in  motion,  and  extra- 
ordinary were  its  powers  esteemed  when  it  dragged 
after  it  eight  or  nine  loaded  coal  waggons,  although 
it  frequently  took  six  hours  to  perform  a  journey  of 
five  miles. 

'  The  execution  of  this  engine  and  its  powers  of 
working  were  faulty  in  the  extreme,  but  the  idea  was 
the  thing :  that  once  suggested,  George  Stephenson 
only  asked  for  time,  and  he  felt  sure  he  could  do  the 
rest.  Ever  since  he  had  been  appointed  colliery  en- 
gineer, he  had  been  anxiously  looking  out  for  some 
method  of  easing  the  men's  work,  and  procuring  a 
rapid  transit  for  the  coals  from  the  various  mines  to 
the  ships  that  were  to  take  them  away.  He  had 
first  thought  of  a  self-acting  incline,  by  which  the 
weight  of  the  loaded  waggons  in  descending  would 
draw  up  the  empty  waggons  to  the  summit.  This 
plan  he  contrived  and  executed,  and  it  was  found  to 
answer  perfectly.  But  no  sooner  did  he  see  the  en- 
gine which  Mr.  Blackett  had  constructed  for  running 
on  an  iron  rail,  than  in  a  moment  he  knew  his  own 
scheme  was  surpassed,  and  that  the  real  secret  for 
which  he  had  been  so  long  searching  was  revealed 
to  him  in  all  its  power.  The  only  thing  now  was 
how  to  make  use  of  it.  However,  he  had  conquered 
too  many  difficulties  to  be  easily  disheartened. 

'  His  want  of  knowledge  of  what  had  already  been 


136  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

written  on  the  subject  was  certainly  a  great  disad- 
vantage to  him.  Never  mind,  he  must  make  the  best 
of  it ;  if  he  could  not  read  for  himself,  Robert  must 
read  for  him.  So,  desiring  his  son  to  get  all  the 
books  he  could  find  on  the  subject,  and  carefully  to 
master  their  contents,  he  himself  devoted  the  whole 
powers  of  his  mind  to  examining  Blackett's  engine 
as  it  now  stood,  finding  out  its  deficiencies,  and  how 
they  might  best  be  remedied.  The  more  he  studied, 
the  more  he  was  convinced  that  at  length  he  held 
the  clue  to  the  most  extraordinary  discovery  the 
world  has  ever  received  ;  and  he  confidently  prophe- 
sied, that  if  once  he  could  reduce  his  theory  to  prac- 
tice, there  was  no  limit  to  the  speed  which  his  engine 
might  attain.  Of  course  people  laughed,  and  called 
him  an  enthusiast  and  a  visionary  ;  but  they  had 
laughed  before,  and  Stephenson  had  shown  them 
their  mirth  had  been  premature :  why  should  it  not 
be  so  again  ?  He  was  right  ;  something  within  him 
told  him  he  was  right.  Let  who  would  oppose,  he 
should  work  steadily  on,  and  the  world  would  see 
great  things  before  many  more  years  had  passed 
away.  But  there  was  one  terrible  impediment  to 
success :  money  was  wanting.  It  was  clearly  im- 
possible for  George  Stephenson  to  supply  the  funds 
himself ;  and  where  was  he  to  find  any  one  willing 
to  advance  the  requisite  sum  for  what  the  world  pro- 
nounced an  impracticable  adventure  ? 

'  A  meeting  of  the  owners  of  the  mine  was  called 


A  Travelling  Engine.  137 

in  1813.  Stephenson  laid  before  them  his  plans  for 
a  "  travelling  engine,"  showing  the  immense  advan- 
tages which  would  result  from  its  use,  and  the  incal- 
culable saving  it  would  effect  in  time,  in  expense,  in 
labour.  Some  of  the  committee  were  inclined  to 
treat  the  idea  as  altogether  visionary  ;  but  Lord 
Ravensworth,  the  principal  partner  in  the  concern, 
fortunately  took  a  different  view  of  the  matter.  He 
had  had  time  to  become  acquainted  with  Stephen- 
son  ;  he  had  heard  all  his  past  career,  and  was  not 
disposed  to  believe  that  a  man  who  had  so  thought- 
fully and  perseveringly  worked  his  way  up  to  his 
present  position,  simply  by  his  own  native  power 
and  by  his  strong,  clear  judgment,  was  now  likely 
to  be  entirely  deceived  on  a  point  which  he  had 
evidently  thoroughly  studied,  and  on  which  he  spoke 
with  such  perfect  confidence  of  ultimate  success.  If 
he  failed,  at  any  rate  it  should  not  be  the  fault  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  mine.  Stephenson  might  go 
to  work  whenever  he  liked  :  he,  Lord  Ravensworth, 
would  be  answerable  for  any  expenses  which  he 
incurred. 

'  Backed  by  such  an  assurance,  Stephenson  applied 
himself  with  redoubled  energy  to  his  task.  Failure 
never  disheartened  him  ;  he  only  learned  how  to 
avoid  the  rock  of  stumbling  in  future.  But  it  was 
hard  work.  Not  only  had  he  to  invent  and  combine 
the  different  portions  of  his  engine,  but  he  had  to 
teach  workmen  how  to  put  them  together.  These 


138  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

works  required  such  much  more  delicate  tools  and 
handling  than  anything  hitherto  known  in  the  north, 
that  Stephenson  found  it  almost  impossible  to  get 
the  assistance  he  needed.  However,  what  with  doing 
it  himself,  and  what  with  overlooking  others,  his 
engine  was  at  last  completed,  and  placed  upon  the 
Killingworth  Railway  on  the  25th  of  July  1814,  and, 
at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour,  it  drew  after  it 
eight  loaded  waggons.  It  was  successful,  but  it  was 
not  success  ;  and  Stephenson  saw  clearly  that,  if  his 
engine  was  to  maintain  its  ground,  some  great  im- 
provement in  its  powers  of  working  must  rapidly  be 
made.  Hour  after  hour  he  anxiously  thought  over 
what  could  be  done,  carefully  noting  and  examining 
its  working  in  every  part.  One  great  objection  that 
was  taken  to  the  engine,  was  the  excessive  noise 
which  it  made  as  it  worked.  Its  horrible  snorts  and 
shrieks  were  something  quite  unearthly,  frightening 
out  of  their  senses  all  the  cattle  which  came  within 
hearing  of  the  dreadful  sounds.  As  Stephenson  was 
thinking  how  this  undeniable  nuisance  might  be  re- 
moved, it  suddenly  occurred  to  him  that  all  this 
horrible  noise  might  be  made  a  means  of  doubling 
the  speed  of  the  engine.  If  the  steam,  instead  of 
being  ejected  into  the  air  with  these  infernal  puffs, 
were  conveyed  into  the  chimney  of  the  engine,  and 
allowed  to  escape  in  a  vertical  direction,  the  blast 
would  of  course  increase  the  fire  in  the  boiler,  steam 
would  be  more  rapidly  generated,  and  the  power  of 


Stephen  son  and  his  son  at  work  in  the  Cottage. 


P.  138. 


Improvements  on  the  Locomotive.        139 

the  engine  would  be  increased  at  the  same  ratio.  I 
wish  I  were  a  better  engineer,  to  explain  more  clearly 
to  you  the  working  out  of  this  simple  and  most  ad- 
mirable idea.  I  have  no  doubt  Arthur  understands 
all  this  a  great  deal  better  than  I  do  ;  you  must  ask 
him  to  show  you. 

'  The  result  of  this  new  experiment  could  not, 
however,  be  known  speedily.  A  new  engine  had 
to  be  constructed  on  entirely  new  principles,  and 
months  must  elapse  before  it  could  be  ascertained 
with  certainty  how  it  would  work.  At  length  all 
was  finished,  and  the  new  engine  placed  upon  the 
rails.  As  far  as  it  went,  it  answered  perfectly.  Both 
in  speed  and  in  power  it  far  surpassed  its  predeces- 
sor ;  but  still  Stephenson  felt  that  there  was  much 
to  be  done  before  it  would  be  generally  adopted  as 
a  decided  improvement  on  the  old  method  of  labour 
with  men  and  horses.  He  felt  greatly  the  want  of 
skilled  workmen  to  carry  out  his  ideas.  He  was 
obliged  to  substitute  all  sorts  of  temporary  expedi- 
ents to  supply  the  place  of  the  delicate  portions 
of  the  machinery,  and  then  the  rails  on  which  his 
engine  ran  were  not  cast  sufficiently  strong  to  enable 
it  to  put  forth  all  its  power.  They  were  perpetually 
breaking  and  getting  out  of  order ;  and  of  course  the 
expense  of  repairing  them  took  so  much  from  the 
profits  of  the  working  of  the  engine,  that  it  became 
rather  doubtful  whether  the  old  method  might  not 
be  the  most  economical,  after  all.  At  least,  such 


140  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

was  the  general  impression,  but  Stephenson  never 
for  a  moment  admitted  it. 

' "  These  are  only  minor  difficulties,"  he  said  ;  "  we 
must  expect  them.  What  great  undertaking  was  ever 
carried  through  without  some  drawbacks?  Trust  me, 
that  is  all  I  ask.  I  see  my  way ;  success  is  certain  in 
the  end  ;  give  me  time  to  persevere  and  to  perfect." 

'  Many  shrugged  their  shoulders  with  a  silent 
sneer.  Others  were  wiser ;  they  saw  the  stuff  of 
which  George  Stephenson  was  made,  and  they 
waited  patiently,  never  doubting  that  in  time  they 
would  see  the  promised  results.  Day  and  night 
the  subject  was  constantly  in  Stephenson's  thoughts. 
He  felt  certain  that  he  was  right  as  far  as  he  had 
gone ;  all  he  wanted  now  was  to  be  able  to  carry 
out  that  which  he  had  conceived.  How  to  do  this 
was  the  difficulty.  Had  he  known  all  that  had 
been  already  written  on  the  subject,  it  would  have 
saved  him  an  infinity  of  labour  and  anxiety ;  for 
very  often  when  he  thought  he  had  hit  exactly  upon 
the  thing  he  wanted,  he  found,  from  the  books 
which  Robert  would  read,  and  the  contents  of  which 
he  would  explain  to  his  father,  that  the  experiments 
had  been  tried  already,  and  without  success.  But 
though  a  most  unusual  amount  of  labour  was  thus 
thrust  upon  him  unnecessarily,  it  became,  in  one 
sense,  of  the  greatest  value.  Practice  is  at  all  times 
better  than  theory.  The  hard  thinking  by  which 
Stephenson  wrought  out  his  problems  for  himself, 


Self-Reliance.  141 

and  the  constant  habit  of  testing  their  truth  by 
reducing  them  into  shape,  and  seeing  how  they 
would  work,  gave  him  such  a  knowledge  of  his 
profession  as  no  mere  reading  could  ever  have 
afforded.  It  convinced  him  that  his  sanguine  hopes 
of  success  were  founded  on  no  mere  theories,  but  on 
the  surest  and  most  scientific  basis,  and  inspired  him 
with  such  an  entire  reliance  on  himself,  that  oppo- 
sition was,  comparatively  speaking,  powerless  to  dis- 
hearten him.  "He  and  his  boy,"  he  said,  "would 
show  the  world  that  they  were  right."  And  they 
did  it  too.  Robert  was  now  growing  to  an  age  to 
be  of  the  greatest  service  to  his  father,  and  Mr. 
Stephenson  brought  him  up  to  be  as  practical  a 
mechanic  as  he  was  himself.  No  shirking  work  was 
allowed  ;  no  cribbing,  Master  Charles,  nor  jumping 
on  to  results,  never  mind  by  what  means  they  are 
to  be  obtained.  Step  by  step  the  young  engineer 
learned  his  trade  ;  and  what  he  once  learned,  that 
he  knew  thoroughly  for  life.  His  father  would 
place  a  drawing  of  the  engine,  or  some  of  its  parts, 
before  the  boy,  and  tell  him  to  describe  it  all  to  him, 
just  as  if  he  were  reading  it  out  of  a  book  ;  and  so 
accurately  could  Robert  perform  this  task,  as  to 
show  there  were  few  portions  even  of  the  most  com- 
plicated machinery  that  he  did  not  understand  as 
fully  as  a  well-trained  engineer/ 

'  Oh  dear  me !'  said  Charles  ;  '  I  should  not  have 
liked  Mr.  Stephenson  for  a  master.1 


142  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  I  do  not  think  you  would  indeed/  replied  Mrs. 
Grenville,  '  you  are  such  a  sad,  lazy  fellow ;  but,  as 
I  have  told  you,  even  Robert  sometimes  thought 
it  rather  hard  to  be  kept  so  steadily  to  his  work. 
However,  he  soon  learned  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  the  lesson  his  father  taught  him,  and  to  feel, 
young  as  he  was,  that  nothing  great  can  ever  be 
attained  except  by  hard,  steady,  patient  toil.  There 
is  no  broad,  easy  road  to  success  :  there  is  but  one 
path  for  us  all,  and  those  who  think  it  too  stony 
and  hard  to  walk  in,  must  be  content  to  forego  the 
reward  at  the  end.  It  is  the  same  with  things 
earthly  and  things  heavenly.  There  must  be  one- 
ness of  purpose  ;  the  only  danger  is,  that  as  earthly 
things  are  present  to  our  senses,  we  may  allow  them 
to  absorb  our  time  and  thoughts,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  things  that  are  unseen  ;  and  then,  alas !  we  bring 
down  upon  ourselves  not  a  blessing,  but  a  curse  ;  and 
the  coveted  crown,  for  which  we  have  toiled  and 
struggled,  fades  and  withers  in  our  grasp.  Our  only 
safety  is  in  sanctifying  our  daily  work  to  God :  let 
it  be  done  to  His  glory,  and  then  we  cannot  work 
too  hard.  However  much  I  should  rejoice  to  see 
you  all  growing  up  earnest,  intelligent,  energetic 
men,  I  should  rejoice  in  it  far  more  because  I  should 
know  that  those  qualities  would  make  you  the  best 
servants  of  God,  and  most  useful  to  your  fellow- 
men,  than  because  they  are  those  which  I  am 
equally  certain  will  most  promote  your  own  success 


A  New  Discovery.  .     143 

in  life/  Mrs.  Grenville  paused  for  a  moment,  and 
then  added  :  'But  now  I  should  like  you  all  to  go 
out  and  have  a  good  run  in  the  garden  :  the  day  is 
beginning  to  cloud  over,  and  if  you  stay  any  longer 
with  me,  it  will  get  too  cold  for  Arthur  to  be  out. 
When  we  have  another  opportunity,  I  will  tell  you 
about  a  new  discovery  which  Stephenson  found  time 
to  make.' 

'  Oh  !  what  was  it,  mamma  ? ' 

'  I  cannot  tell  you  now/ 

'  Oh  mamma  !  but  that  is  so  tantalizing/ 

*  Not  at  all ;  it  will  be  something  to  look  forward 
to.  Run  away/ 

Mrs.  Grenville  was  inexorable,  and  the  children 
were  obliged  to  submit. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  safety-lamp — Stephenson  and  Sir  Humphrey  Davy — Stephenson 
suggests  the  formation  oi  a  railroad  between  Darlington  and  Stock- 
ton— Is  appointed  engineer — Opening  oi  the  line.1 

mamma,  you  are  at  leisure  to-day, 
are  you  not  ? '   said  Arthur  ;  '  and  you 
promised  to  tell  us  about  Mr.  Stephen- 
son's  new  discovery.     I  have  been  think- 
ing of  half  a  hundred  things  that  it  might  be,  and 
I  want  to  know  whether  I  am  right/ 
'  Did  you  think  of  a  safety-lamp  ?' 
'  No,  that  I  did  'not ;  but  it  was  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy  who   invented   the   safety -lamp,  was  it  not, 
mamma?1 

'  He   made   the  one  most  generally  known,  but 
George  Stephenson  had  constructed  one  previously/ 
'Then  what   a   shame,'   exclaimed    Ernest,  'that 
Sir  Humphrey  Davy  should  have  all  the  credit ! ' 

*  So  I  think/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville ;  '  the  fame 
ought  to  be  more  equally  divided  between  the  two, 
for  no  doubt  both  equally  deserve  the  praise  that 

i  See  Smiles'  Life  of  Stephenson,  pp.  94-203. 


1 46  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

the  partisans  of  Sir  Humphrey  desire  to  secure  for 
him  alone.  However,  time,  the  great  judge,  has 
already  begun  to  right  the  balances,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  future  generations  will  hold  the  scales 
pretty  equally  between  the  rivals/ 

'  But,  Aunt  Helen/  said  Charles,  '  what  was  the 
good  of  the  safety-lamp  ?  What  was  it  wanted  for  ? ' 

'To  prevent  the  ignition  of  the  gas,'  replied  Mrs. 
Grenville.  '  You  know  what  a  quantity  of  gas  all 
coal  contains  :  well,  when  the  seams  of  the  coal  are 
cut  through,  this  gas  rushes  out  into  the  galleries ; 
and  of  course  any  workman  coming  along  at  the 
moment  with  a  lighted  taper  is  liable  to  set  it  on 
fire,  and  thus  expose  himself  and  his  fellow-work- 
men to  instantaneous  death.  Many  a  bad  accident 
had  taken  place  since  Stephenson  had  worked  at  the 
mine,  and  often  had  he  pondered  over  some  means 
for  finding  a  substitute  for  the  tapers  that  were  at 
that  time  used  in  the  pits.  Incessant  business,  how- 
ever, and  his  constant  labour  with  his  locomotive, 
had  prevented  his  putting  his  ideas  into  anything 
like  form.  At  length  one  day,  in  the  year  1814,  a 
workman  ran  suddenly  into  his  cottage,  exclaiming 
in  breathless  horror,  "  Stephenson,  Stephenson,  make 
haste,  make  haste  !  the  pit's  a-fire  !  "  Throwing  his 
books  and  his  plans  on  one  side,  off  ran  George  Ste- 
phenson. As  he  neared  the  pit's  mouth,  he  heard 
the  cries  and  shrieks  of  the  horrified  women,  whose 
husbands  and  sons  were  working  below.  "  Oh ! 


Courage  of  George  Stephenson.          147 

the  numbers  that  are  below !  the  numbers  that  are 
below ! " 

'"  Stand  back,  and  give  me  place,"  exclaimed 
Stephenson  ;  "  I  am  going  down  to  join  them." 

' "  Down !  why  you  are  going  to  certain  death/' 
remonstrated  the  enginemen. 

' "  Lower  me  instantly,  there  is  not  a  moment  to 
be  lost,"  was  the  stern  reply  ;  and  springing  into  the 
basket,  in  an  instant  he  disappeared  down  the  pit's 
mouth.  As  he  touched  the  ground  he  saw  the 
extent  of  the  danger,  and  how  it  could  alone  be 
remedied. 

'"Are  there  six  men,"  he  exclaimed,  looking 
round  on  the  terrified  group  of  workmen,  who  were 
crouching  to  the  ground  in  vain  hope  of  safety  from 
the  coming  blast, — "  are  there  six  amongst  ye  who 
have  brave  hearts  and  strong  arms?  If  so,  follow 
me.  We  will  stop  the  flames,  or  we  will  perish  in 
the  attempt." 

'  Roused  by  that  ringing  voice,  animated  by  that 
brave  and  daring  spirit,  the  men  eagerly  volunteered 
to  follow  wherever  he  would  lead  the  way. 

'  It  was  a  frightful  peril :  one  instant  too  late,  and 
they  were  courting  death.  Stephenson's  plan  was 
to  build  up  a  wall  of  solid  masonry  between  them- 
selves and  the  approaching  flames,  defy  the  de- 
stroyer face  to  face,  and  stay  him  in  his  victorious 
march.  All  the  materials  that  he  required  were 
fortunately  at  hand.  Silently  and  earnestly  the  men 


148  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

held  to  their  work :  nearer  and  nearer  came  the 
enemy,  but  not  one  man  flinched  from  his  post  till 
the  last  stone  was  placed,  and  then  they  paused, 
and  gratefully  thanked  God  for  their  wonderful 
preservation,  and  honoured  him  whose  courage, 
under  Heaven,  had  alone  saved  their  lives. 

'  Not  content,  however,  with  having  stayed  the 
immediate  danger,  Stephenson  turned  his  thoughts 
in  earnest  to  how  the  risk  might  be  best  averted  in 
future.  To  accomplish  what  he  wanted  was  very 
difficult,  for  he  must  have  a  bright  light,  and  yet 
one  which  could  in  no  way  communicate  with  the 
outer  air ;  and  how  was  this  to  be  effected  ?  as 
of  course  no  light  would  burn  brightly  except  the 
flame  was  fed  with  a  certain  amount  of  air ;  and  if 
he  admitted  the  necessary  draught,  how  was  he  to 
prevent  its  coming  in  contact  with  and  igniting  the 
noxious  gases  ?  Books  he  had  none  to  help  him,  for 
in  this  case  there  were  none  written  on  the  subject.  It 
was  just  at  the  very  moment  when  the  attention  of 
scientific  men  was  being  roused  to  its  importance 
by  the  succession  of  lamentable  accidents  so  con- 
stantly occurring.  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  had  been 
asked  to  turn  his  especial  attention  to  the  matter, 
and  he  had  promised,  if  possible,  to  construct  some 
instrument  which  might  obviate  the  danger. 

'But  Stephenson  knew  nothing  of  this,  nor  had 
he  any  of  the  scientific  knowledge  which  was  guid- 
ing the  researches  of  Sir  Humphrey.  He  had 


The  Safety-Lamp.  149 

nothing  but  his  clear  head,  strong  common  sense, 
and  accurate  acquaintance  with  practical  mathe- 
matics. Carefully  noting  the  causes  of  explosion, 
and  the  different  currents  of  air  through  the  mine, 
Stephenson  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  if  he  could 
contrive  a  lamp  with  a  long  chimney,  and  with 
tubes  which  could  produce  a  sufficient  current  of 
air,  he  should  obtain  his  object.  His  only  doubt 
was  how  much  of  the  outer  atmosphere  must  be 
conveyed  to  the  light  itself  to  make  it  burn.  How- 
ever, this  he  must  test  for  himself ;  and  without  loss 
of  time  he  set  to  work  upon  his  new  invention. 

'At  length  the  lamp  was  completed,  and,  in  com- 
pany with  two  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  Stephen- 
son  descended  into  the  mine  to  make  trial  of  its 
power.  By  previous  arrangement  a  small  portion  of 
a  very  dangerous  part  of  the  pit  had  been  boarded 
off,  that  the  gas  might  escape  into  it  in  large  quan- 
tities, and  thereby  test  to  its  utmost  the  powers  of 
the  lamp.  It  was  a  fearful  moment.  Suppose  the 
lamp  proved  unequal  to  the  trial,  certain  and  imme- 
diate death  must  be  the  fate  of  all  three. 

' "  It  is  too  hazardous !"  exclaimed  one  of  the  party. 
"  Let  us  go  back  ;  it  is  tempting  Providence." 

* "  No,  no,"  exclaimed  Stephenson,  "  I  am  confident 
of  the  power  of  the  lamp  ;  besides,  it  must  be  tested. 
The  trial  is  worth  the  risk ;  it  is  one  man's  life  to 
save  a  thousand.  Go  you  back .;  I  and  my  lamp  go 
forward  together.'* 


150  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  The  men  looked  at  each  other  for  a  moment  in 
silence,  but  the  risk  was  too  great,  and  their  courage 
was  not  proof  against  the  dreadful  ordeal.  They 
went  back  to  a  place  of  safety,  whilst  their  calm, 
brave,  dauntless  companion  passed  on,  and  was  lost 
to  their  sight  in  the  surrounding  darkness.  His  own 
heart  may  have  beaten  more  quickly,  but  his  hand 
never  trembled  as,  having  reached  the  place  of  trial, 
he  held  out  his  lamp,  and  placed  it  in  the  full  cur- 
rent of  the  noxious  air.  His  companions  mean- 
while awaited  in  beathless  suspense  the  sound  of  the 
explosion  which  was  to  tell  them  that  their  brave 
friend  was  no  more.  Minutes  seemed  like  hours, 
and  then  they  heard  the  sound  of  a  footstep,  and 
then  the  cheery,  well-known  voice  that  told  them  all 
\*/as  right.  "  Come,  come,  see  for  yourselves,"  he 
said  ;  "  it  is  quite  safe,  never  fear  ;  come  and  judge." 
Following  Stephenson,  at  a  very  prudent  distance 
however,  they  saw  him  go  up  to  the  dangerous  spot, 
and  coolly  hold  out  the  lamp.  The  flame  bright- 
ened, flickered  and  v/ent  out,  but  no  explosion 
followed.  Clearly  it  was  safe.  Half  the  battle  was 
won.  All  that  was  now  required  was  to  find  the 
means  of  keeping  alive  the  light,  and  the  friends  re- 
turned together  to  Stephenson's  cottage  to  discuss 
how  this,  the  remaining  portion  ot  their  work,  might 
be  effected,  thankful  for  their  own  wonderful  pre- 
servation, and  rejoicing  to  think  that  at  length  a 
means  had  been  iound  by  which  the  lives  of  thou- 


Success  of  the  '  Geordie  Lamp'         1 5 1 

sands  might  be  rendered  safe,  and  more  than  ever 
honouring  the  man  who  could  thus  calmly  make 
sacrifice  of  his  own  life,  if  need  be,  to  promote  the 
well-being  of  his  fellow-creatures/ 

'What  a  grand  fellow  he  was  !'  exclaimed  Ernest. 
*  He  was  something  like  a  man/ 

*  He  was  indeed/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville.  '  It  is 
quite  refreshing  to  know  that  such  men  have  lived  in 
our  own  days.  We  are  apt  to  think,  when  we  read 
of  heroic  and  of  noble  deeds  in  history,  that  they 
belong  to  a  generation  quite  passed  away,  having 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  us,  and  so  we  lose  half 
the  benefit  of  their  example  ;  whereas,  when  we  hear 
of  those  living  amongst  ourselves,  our  very  own 
countrymen,  doing  such  brave  deeds,  we  feel  that 
for  very  shame  we  must  try  and  imitate  them,  or  be 
content  to  rank  amongst  an  inferior  class  of  men/ 

'And  did  Stephenson  find  out  how  to  make  the 
lamp  burn,  mamma  ?'  inquired  Arthur. 

'Yes.  After  much  thought  and  many  experi- 
ments, he  at  length  hit  upon  a  plan  by  which  the 
poisonous  air  which  extinguished  the  light  might  be 
discharged,  and  pure  air  introduced  through  tubes 
to  keep  alive  the  flame.  The  plan  was  tried,  and 
with  perfect  success ;  and  thus,  before  Stephenson 
had  ever  heard  of  Sir  Humphrey  Davy's  lamp,  and 
in  fact  before  Sir  Humphrey  himself  had  begun  to 
construct  it,  the  "  Geordie  Lamp,"  as  it  was  termed, 
was  in  actual  use  in  the  Northumberland  coal-pits. 


152  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Stephenson's  fame,  whilst  he 
at  the  risk  of  his  own  life  had  been  working  out 
his  problem  practically,  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  with 
every  aid  that  science  could  afford  to  his  really  fine 
intellect,  had  come  to  a  theoretical  conclusion  pre- 
cisely similar.  The  lamp  which  he  exhibited  at  the 
Royal  Society  was  more  neatly  put  together,  be- 
cause he  could  command  the  help  of  all  the  most 
skilled  workmen  in  England  ;  but  the  principles  on 
which  it  was  made  were  so  identically  the  same  with 
those  of  the  "  Geordie,"  that  when  it  was  first  shown 
to  the  Killingworth  pitmen,  they  exclaimed,  "  Why, 
that  is  Stephenson's  lamp  !" 

'  However,  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  was  at  that  time 
the  admired  of  all  men,  and  looked  upon  as  one  of 
the  great  lights  of  the  age,  whilst  George  Stephen- 
son  was  merely  a  workman,  or  at  best  an  unknown 
engineer.  When,  therefore,  some  of  his  friends  came 
forward  and  claimed  for  him  the  honour  due  to  his 
invention,  the  idea  was  simply  laughed  at  and  put 
on  one  side.  But  Stephenson  was  not  a  man  to 
allow  himself  to  be  quietly  laughed  down.  He  did 
not  wish  to  claim  for  himself  one  iota  more  merit 
than  he  deserved,  but  right  should  be  done  to  him 
as  much  as  to  another ;  so,  quietly  and  firmly,  he 
held  his  ground.  "  Only  let  the  matter  be  fairly 
sifted,"  he  said,  "  and  then  let  the  praise  rest  with 
those  to  whom  the  praise  was  due." 

'  As  is  often  the  case,  the  partisans  on  both  sides 


The  Rival  Lamps.  1 5  3 

took  up  the  matter  with  undue  warmth.  Each 
would  have  claimed  the  entire  merit  for  their  own 
champion,  whereas  in  reality  both  men  were  equally 
deserving  of  praise,  and  it  was  a  thousand  pities 
that  a  feeling  of  jealousy  should  have  been  fostered 
for  a  moment  between  two  such  rivals.  The  ques- 
tion became  an  embittered  one  ;  nor  was  the  matter 
mended,  when,  at  a  great  meeting  of  all  the  princi- 
pal men  connected  with  the  Northumberland  mines, 
it  was  resolved  that  a  splendid  testimonial  should 
be  given  to  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  to  mark  their 
sense  of  the  importance  of  his  invention,  whilst  they 
merely  presented  George  Stephenson  with  a  hun- 
dred guineas,  to  show,  as  they  said,  that  they  were 
not  unmindful  of  his  exertions  in  the  cause  of 
humanity. 

'  But  this  did  not  satisfy  Stephenson.  He  did 
not  want  the  hundred  guineas,  but  he  did  want  the 
credit  that  he  had  so  hardly  earned.  A  number  of 
his  friends  took  the  same  view.  A  statement  of  the 
facts  was  published,  and  of  course  drew  forth  a 
rejoinder  from  the  opposite  side.  Unfortunate  as 
this  controversy  then  appeared,  it  has  perhaps  had 
the  advantage  of  enabling  us,  now  that  all  heat  of 
partisanship  has  passed  away,  to  judge  clearly  be- 
tween the  merits  of  the  two  men ;  and,  without 
depreciating  either,  to  be  thankful  for  the  blessing 
bestowed  upon  the  miners  by  the  scientific  know- 
ledge of  the  one,  and  by  the  practical  experience 


154  ^^  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  clear-thinking,  hard-working  perseverance  of  the 
other. 

'  Not  content,  however,  with  giving  to  the  world 
the  true  history  of  Stephenson's  invention,  his  friends 
determined  to  present  him  with  some  tangible  proof 
of  their  admiration  and  regard ;  and  in  a  manner 
most  peculiarly  gratifying  to  Stephenson,  they 
begged  his  acceptance  of  a  silver  tankard  and  one 
thousand  guineas,  as  a  slight  mark  of  the  estima- 
tion in  which  they  held  his  high  qualities  both  of 
heart  and  head. 

'This  money  came  just  at  the  right  moment. 
Robert,  his  darling  boy,  had  grown  up  all  that  his 
father's  fondest  wishes  could  desire.  He  had  now 
been  for  about  two  years  working  with  his  father  at 
the  mines, — the  greatest  possible  assistance  to  him  ; 
for  not  only  was  his  knowledge  of  every  part  of  an 
engine  so  complete,  that  Mr.  Stephenson  could  leave 
him  fearlessly  in  the  entire  charge  of  the  most  com- 
plicated works,  but  Robert  was  just  as  much  inte- 
rested as  Mr.  Stephenson  himself  in  the  construction 
of  a  perfect  locomotive ;  and  his  accurate  drawing, 
and  quick,  ready  power  of  suggestion,  were  of  the 
greatest  value  to  his  father  in  preparing  his  different 
plans  and  models.  Nothing  was  a  trouble  to  him  : 
his  energy  was  untiring.  That  it  was  right  that 
such  and  such  a  thing  should  be  done  was  quite 
sufficient.  No  matter  what  self-denial  it  entailed, 
the  sacrifice  was  cheerfully  made ;  and  for  weeks 


Advantages  of  Education.  155 

together  he  would  be  up  between  two  and  three 
in  the  morning,  steadily  at  work  at  his  engine — 
intent  merely  on  doing  his  present  duty,  and  doing 
it  well. 

'  To  lose  such  an  assistant  and  such  a  companion, 
might  well  seem  to  Stephenson  an  irreparable  loss  ; 
but  no  sooner  did  he  receive  the  thousand  guineas 
than  he  made  up  his  mind  that  part  of  it  should  be  de- 
voted to  sending  his  son  to  college.  He  understood 
too  well — in  fact  this  Davy  controversy  had  shown 
him — the  immense  disadvantages  that  he  laboured 
under  for  want  of  a  university  education,  and  of  the 
standing  it  always  commands  in  the  world.  Robert 
should  be  spared  this  trial,  at  least.  He  should 
start  on  an  equality  with  other  young  men  of  his 
day  ;  and  in  his  heart  he  prophesied  he  would  shoot 
ahead  of  them  with  the  speed  of  his  own  locomotive. 
So  Robert  went  to  Edinburgh,  and  Mr.  Stephenson 
endeavoured  to  reconcile  himself  to  his  loss  by 
devoting  himself  more  than  ever  to  the  perfecting 
of  his  unwieldy  favourite,  of  whom  people  were  apt 
to  say,  as  they  shook  their  heads  gravely,  "  Ay,  but 
there  will  be  an  awful  blow-up  some  of  these  days." 
And  so  there  was,  but  not  exactly  in  the  sense  they 
intended.  Not  many  years,  and  the  prejudices  of 
the  ignorant  and  the  forebodings  of  the  learned 
were  alike  blown  to  pieces  by  the  practical  know- 
ledge of  the  self-taught  engineer. 

'Just  at  the  present  moment,  however,  a  fresh 


156  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

difficulty  was  thrown  in  Stephenson's  way,  by  a 
very  general  notion  that  steam-carriages  could  be 
so  constructed  as  to  travel  along  the  common  high- 
way ;  and  the  attention  of  all  the  best  engineers  of 
the  day  was  directed  to  seeing  how  this  might  be 
effected.  Stephenson,  however,  said  from  the  first 
that  they  were  trying  to  accomplish  an  impossibility, 
for  that  the  inequalities  and  roughness  of  a  common 
road  would  offer  too  great  a  resistance.  If  they 
desired  to  make  steam  power  really  available,  it 
must  be  by  finding  a  perfectly  smooth  level  on 
which  the  engine  might  run.  He  was  met  by  the 
reply :  the  engine  wheels  would  not  bite,  conse- 
quently the  engine  could  never  be  propelled  forward. 
"  This  was  a  mere  popular  delusion,"  Stephenson 
replied.  "  Give  him  only  the  opportunity,  and  he 
would  show  that  it  was."  There  was  no  use  argu- 
ing with  Stephenson,  he  was  so  determined  ;  so  the 
engineers  shrugged  their  shoulders  and  pitied  his 
ignorance,  and  Stephenson,  caring  little  for  their 
silent  contempt,  worked  quietly  on  at  an  undertak- 
ing, by  which,  as  he  truly  said,  "  he  would  revolu- 
tionize the  world." 

'  Certain  that  he  was  right  in  the  principles  on 
which  he  meant  to  work,  Stephenson's  first  care  was 
to  improve  the  line  of  rails  on  which  his  engine  ran. 
One  improvement  suggested  another,  and  at  length, 
in  1819,  the  locomotive  at  the  Killingworth  mine 
had  been  proved  such  an  undoubted  success,  that 


Opening  of  the  Helton  Railway.        1 5  7 

Stephenson  was  applied  to  by  the  owners  of  the 
Hetton  colliery  to  construct  a  line  of  about  eight 
miles  long,  which  was  to  be  worked  entirely  by  his 
locomotive  engine.  This  was  his  first  great  triumph, 
the  first  public  recognition  of  the  truth  of  his  theory. 
Stephenson  set  to  work  with  a  hearty  good-will,  and 
on  the  1 8th  of  November  1822  the  Hetton  Railway 
was  opened ;  and  amidst  the  cheers  of  hundreds  of 
spectators  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the  novel 
sight,  the  engines  started  from  their  post,  dragging 
after  them  long  trains  of  heavily  loaded  waggons/ 

'  And  how  fast  did  they  go  ? '  asked  Ernest. 

'  About  four  miles  an  hour/ 

'  Oh  !  only  that  ? ' 

'  That  was  considered  fast  in  those  days.  But  a 
new  and  far  more  important  success  was  now  await- 
ing Stephenson/  continued  Mrs.  Grenville.  'You 
remember,  I  suppose,  what  an  immense  impetus 
had  been  given  to  the  cotton  trade  by  the  inven- 
tions of  Arkwright  and  the  engines  of  Watt  ?  * 

'  Oh  yes,  of  course/  exclaimed  the  children,  '  we 
remember/ 

'  One  of  the  consequences  that  naturally  resulted, 
was  the  greatly  increased  importance  as  mercantile 
cities  of  Manchester  and  Liverpool,  and  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  finding  some  means  of  more  rapid 
communication  between  the  two.  All  the  principal 
traffic  had  hitherto  been  carried  on  by  means  of  the 
Bridgewater  Canal  ;  but  not  only  was  this  a  very 


158  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

slow  means  of  transit,  but  it  was  utterly  impossible 
to  find  boats  sufficient  to  convey  the  quantities  of 
goods  which,  for  want  of  means  of  transport,  were 
lying  idle,  or,  worse  still,  rotting  in  the  different 
warehouses.  Something  must  be  done,  and  that 
speedily,  or  the  tide  of  advancing  commercial  pro- 
sperity would  be  stayed.  A  very  clever,  though 
somewhat  speculative  man,  a  Mr.  James,  suggested 
that  a  tram-road,  to  be  worked  by  horses,  should  be 
constructed  between  the  two  cities.  Whilst,  how- 
ever, matters  were  still  pending,  Mr.  James  was  told 
of  the  wonderful  engines  that  were  working  at  the 
Killingworth  collieries,  and  of  the  still  more  wonder- 
ful man  who  had  made  them.  Mr.  James  imme- 
diately determined  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  mines  him- 
self, and  judge  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  heard. 
He  was  equally  delighted  with  the  engine  and  the 
engineer,  declaring  that  the  one  would  attain  to  the 
celebrity  of  Watt,  and  as  to  the  other',  that  there 
would  be  no  limit  to  the  wonders  it  might  perform. 
From  that  moment  he  became  one  of  Stephenson's 
stanchest  adherents,  and  would  gladly  have  ob- 
tained his  assistance  in  the  immediate  construction 
of  a  railway  between  Manchester  and  Liverpool,  but 
the  storm  of  opposition  the  mere  proposal  of  such  a 
plan  excited  amongst  all  the  most  influential  land- 
holders of  the  neighbourhood  was  too  strong  for  Mr. 
James  and  his  small  knot  of  supporters.  For  the 
moment,  therefore,  the  plan  was  stopped.  But  it 


God's  Providence.  159 

only  went  to  sleep,  refreshing  itself  till  the  time  for 
action  should  arise  ;  and  meanwhile  there  was  plenty 
of  work  cut  out  for  the  indefatigable  engineer. 

'In  tracing  the  wonderful  ways  of  God,  I  have 
always  been  deeply  impressed  with  the  fact,  that 
when  any  great  change  is  destined  to  take  place  in 
the  world,  or  any  great  benefit  is  about  to  be  con- 
ferred, exactly  the  right  men  are  raised  up  in  the 
right  place.  It  should  teach  us,  I  think,  both  thank- 
fulness and  humility ; — thankfulness,  if  in  any  mea- 
sure we  are  chosen  to  co-operate  in  the  good  work ; 
humility,  in  that  we  see  that  our  finest  talents  are 
but  as  instruments  in  God's  hands,  by  which  He 
works  out  His  own  foreordained  and  unalterable 
plans,  becoming  to  ourselves  a  blessing  or  a  curse, 
in  so  far  as  we  account  them  of  value  for  God's 
glory  or  our  own. 

'Just  at  the  very  moment  when  George  Stephen- 
son  was  wanting  a  more  ample  field  for  the  develop- 
ment of  his  great  discovery,  he  was  brought  into 
connection  with  the  man  most  suited  to  give  him 
the  assistance  he  needed.  Mr.  Pease  of  Darlington 
was  one  of  those  shrewd,  clever,  large-hearted  men, 
true  sons  of  the  north,  who  put  us  more  effeminate 
southerners  to  shame  with  their  energy. 

'  Mr.  Pease  had  been  for  some  time  impressed 
with  the  great  advantages  which  would  accrue  to 
his  native  place,  if  he  could  open  up  a  ready 
means  of  transporting  the  coal  from  Darlington  to 


1 60  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

the  neighbouring  seaport  town  of  Stockton.  His 
notion  was  to  lay  down  a  tram-road  between  the 
places ;  and,  after  considerable  difficulty,  he  pro- 
cured the  necessary  Act  for  enabling  him  to  carry 
this  into  effect.  One  night,  however,  before  any 
operation  was  yet  begun,  he  was  told  that  two 
men  wished  to  speak  to  him  on  business,  and  on 
going  into  his  study,  he  was  met  by  a  clever,  intel- 
ligent, thoughtful -looking  man,  who,  without  any 
excuse  or  preamble,  introduced  himself  as  George 
Stephenson,  "  an  engine-wright,"  who  was  anxious  to 
speak  to  Mr.  Pease  about  this  new  tram-road  which 
he  was  on  the  point  of  making,  and  which  he  thought 
might  be  changed  into  a  railroad,  with  immense  ad- 
vantage to  all  the  parties  concerned  in  the  under- 
taking. 

'  Mr.  Pease  was  somewhat  taken  aback  by  such  a 
very  bold  innovation  on  his  plan,  and  made  by  a 
perfect  stranger  also  ;  and  yet  there  was  an  earnest, 
straightforward  truthfulness  about  his  visitor  that 
impressed  him  greatly  in  his  favour.  Begging  Ste- 
phenson to  be  seated,  he  went  into  the  whole  subject 
at  great  length  with  him — listening  most  attentively 
to  all  that  Stephenson  urged  in  support  of  the  pre- 
tensions of  his  pet  locomotive  ;  and  at  length,  when 
Stephenson  concluded  by  saying,  "Come  and  judge 
for  yourself;  seeing  is  believing!"  he  promised  to 
accept  the  invitation,  and  take  an  early  opportunity 
of  coming  over  to  Killingworth,  to  examine  for  him- 


Mr.  Pease  Convinced.  r6r 

self  the  boasted  powers  of  the  travelling  engine. 
True  to  his  word,  he  kept  his  appointment.  Ste~ 
phenson  put  the  locomotive  through  all  its  accom- 
plishments, and  so  satisfied  Mr.  Pease  of  the  truth 
of  all  that  he  had  told  him  of  its  powers,  that  he 
became  as  ardent  an  admirer  of  the  engine  as  Ste- 
phenson  could  possibly  have  desired,  and  from  that 
day  forward  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  bring 
into  public  notice  both  the  workman  and  the  work  ; 
and  so  strenuously  did  he  advocate  his  cause,  that 
he  persuaded  the  gentlemen  who  were  connected 
with  him  in  the  management  of  the  Darlington  and 
Stockton  tram-road  to  reconsider  their  plans,  and 
obtain  a  new  grant  from  Parliament,  by  which  they 
might  be  allowed  to  construct  a  railroad  instead,  and 
work  the  line  with  the  locomotive  engine. 

'This  done,  Stephenson  was  appointed  engineer, 
and  set  to  work  with  a  hearty  good-will,  to  find 
levels  and  make  all  things  ready  for  this  his  first  real 
triai  of  the  feasibility  of  his  long-thought-of  scheme. 
With  earliest  dawn  he  used  to  be  up  and  out,  hard 
at  work  surveying  and  measuring,  and  not  till  day 
closed  in  did  he  return  to  take  either  rest  or  re- 
freshment, except  such  as  was  offered  to  him  at  any 
of  the  farmhouses  by  which  he  passed.  His  kind 
manners,  and  the  readiness  with  which  he  could 
adapt  himself  to  all  circumstances,  made  him  a 
general  favourite.  People  were  only  too  glad  to 
offer  him  the  best  of  what  they  had,  and  thought 


1 62  The  Tmimphs  of  Steam. 

themselves  well  repaid  for  their  hospitality  as  they 
listened  to  the  fresh,  racy  stones  of  their  guest. 
But  full  of  fun  and  light-hearted  as  he  might  have 
seemed  to  the  world  at  large,  this  was  in  reality 
a  time  of  anxious  thought.  Stephenson  was  quite 
aware  how  much  the  future  success  of  all  his  most 
cherished  hopes  hung  upon  the  prosperous  issue  of 
his  present  undertaking.  If  the  locomotive  were 
tried  now  and  found  wanting,  good-bye  to  all  his 
darling  projects ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  succeeded, 
there  were  no  bounds  to  his  ambitious  views  for  its 
future.  Day  and  night  he  pondered  over  the  sub- 
ject, inventing,  contriving,  altering,  improving — as 
usual,  cheered  on  and  aided  by  his  energetic  son. 
But,  alas!  at  this  moment  even  this  son  was  an 
additional  cause  of  anxiety. 

'Anxious  to  improve  to  the  very  uttermost  the 
advantages  he  well  knew  his  father  had  earned  for 
him  so  dearly,  Robert  had  studied  so  hard,  that 
even  his  fine  constitution  seemed  giving  way.  He 
might  carry  away  prizes,  he  might  earn  applause  ; 
but  what  were  these  to  Stephenson,  if  they  were  to 
be  bought  at  the  price  of  the  health  of  his  darling 
boy  ?  Perhaps,  then,  he  almost  doubted  how  far  he 
had  been  wise  in  urging  on  a  spirit  already  quite 
sufficiently  ardent  and  ambitious.  However,  the 
mischief  was  done ;  the  point  was  now  to  find  the 
remedy.  Fortunately,  just  at  this  moment  a  pro- 
posal was  made  to  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson,  that  he 


Anxiety  of  Stephenson  for  his  Son.      163 

should  take  the  management  of  some  silver-mines  at 
Maraquito,  in  Columbia.  To  lose  the  assistance  of 
his  son  just  at  this  critical  juncture  of  affairs,  when 
he  most  needed  his  ready  and  able  co-operation, 
was  a  sad  blow  to  Stephenson ;  but  he  never  for 
a  moment  hesitated.  The  warm  climate  of  South 
America,  the  change  of  scene  and  occupation,  were 
pronounced  to  be  the  best  possible  hope  of  entirely 
re-establishing  Robert's  health.  Stephenson  was 
therefore  only  anxious  that  the  appointment  should 
be  accepted,  and  Robert  leave  England  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible. 

'  It  must  have  been  a  great  pleasure,  however, 
both  to  father  and  son,  that  already  considerable 
progress  had  been  made  in  the  construction  of  the 
Darlington  Railroad ;  and  the  engines,  which  were 
being  made  under  the  superintendence  of  Robert 
himself  at  the  Newcastle  manufactory,  were  already 
far  advanced  towards  completion.  So  greatly,  how- 
ever, did  the  directors  of  the  railroad  misdoubt  Ste- 
phenson's  powers,  that  they  would  only  give  an 
order  that  three  of  the  locomotives  might  be  made. 
Mr.  Pease,  indeed,  who  had  now  the  opportunity  of 
being  constantly  in  the  society  of  Stephenson,  and 
who  was  daily  becoming  more  and  more  impressed 
with  his  strong  judgment,  indefatigable  energy,  and 
clear  good  sense,  urged  upon  the  company  that  they 
might  safely  trust  themselves  to  follow  implicitly 
the  advice  of  their  engineer.  It  was  not,  however, 


1 64  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

to  be  expected  that  a  body  of  men  would  consent 
to  be  guided  implicitly  by  a  man  who,  whatever 
they  might  think  of  him,  was  pretty  generally  con- 
sidered to  be  an  enthusiastic  visionary  on  his  one 
favourite  subject.  They  considered  themselves  quite 
sufficiently  generous  in  having  allowed  him  to  mount 
his  hobby  at  all.  If  they  did  not  put  him  under 
certain  restrictions,  who  knew  but  that  he  might  ride 
it  to  death,  and  they  and  their  concerns  to  destruc- 
tion ?  So  they  gave  orders  for  buying  up  a  large 
number  of  horses  who  were  to  work  the  road  in 
connection  with  the  locomotives.  Stephenson  did 
not  attempt  to  prevent  it.  "  Let  them  buy  the 
horses  if  they  like,"  he  said ;  but  he  had  a  pretty 
clear  conviction  in  his  own  mind  that  his  locomo- 
tives would  soon  deprive  the  unfortunate  animals 
of  their  post. 

'  And  now  a  new  idea  occurred  to  him,  or  rather 
he  ventured  now  for  the  first  time  openly  to  broach 
it.  If  the  locomotive  could  drag  coals>  why  could 
it  not  drag  human  beings  ?  If  it  was  a  convenience 
for  the  goods  to  travel  fast,  surely  it  was  a  much 
greater  convenience  to  their  possessors.  Why  should 
not  a  passenger  carriage  be  attached  to  the  train 
that  was  to  make  the  first  trip  between  Darlington 
and  Stockton?  It  was  a  very  bold  idea  then, 
though  it  seems  simple  enough  to  us  now ;  but  in 
those  days  a  locomotive  seemed  little  less  dreadful 
than  an  infernal  machine,  and  courageous  must  have 


His  Prediction.  165 

been  the  heart,  and  strong  the  nerves,  that  would 
volunteer  to  trust  themselves  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  monster.  People  would  have  thought  it  quite 
as  sensible  to  have  taken  their  seats  on  the  crater  of 
Vesuvius,  whilst  an  eruption  was  every  moment  im- 
pending. However,  Stephenson  gained  his  point : 
permission  was  given  to  build  the  carriage,  and  he 
did  not  doubt  that  when  the  time  came  he  should 
find  people  bold  enough  to  fill  it.  For  himself,  the 
nearer  the  day  drew  for  the  opening  of  the  railway, 
the  more  and  more  confident  he  became  of  success. 
Just  before  his  son  left  England,  he  went  over  the 
works  with  his  father  to  take  a  parting  glance  that 
all  was  right ;  and  on  their  return  from  their  tour  of 
inspection,  Mr.  Stephenson  ordered  a  bottle  of  wine, 
that  he  and  his  son,  and  a  young  friend  who  was 
with  them,  might  drink  success  to  the  locomotive. 

* "  Yes,  lads,"  said  Mr.  Stephenson,  "  I  am  getting 
old,  and  may  not  live  to  see  it,  but  you  are  young, 
and  in  your  days,  trust  me,  the  railway  will  be  the 
great  highway  for  the  whole  kingdom  ;  for  the  time 
is  coming  when  it  will  be  cheaper  for  a  working 
man  to  travel  by  rail  than  to  walk  on  foot.  It  will 
drive  every  coach  off  the  road,  and  will  be  the  one 
great  means  of  conveyance,  whether  for  the  king 
or  for  his  people." 

'  It  was  well,  perhaps,  for  Stephenson  that  these 
words  were  only  spoken  to  the  two  ardent  young 
men,  who  could  respond  to  every  syllable  he  said, 


1 66  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

and  most  heartily  believed  in  the  truth  of  his  pro- 
phecy. Had  th*e  directors  been  present  at  the  time, 
they  might  have  trembled  for  their  interests  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  a  monomaniac.  And  yet,  en- 
thusiastic as  Stephenson  was  in  the  cause  of  his 
favourite,  even  he  would  have  shrunk  from  the  bold- 
ness of  the  assertion,  had  he  been  told  that  not 
thirty  years  would  have  elapsed  before  the  whole 
country  of  England  would  be  one  network  of  rail- 
roads, and  his  engines  flying  over  the  ground  at  the 
rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour.  Never  was  such  a  revo- 
lution wrought  in  the  whole  framework  of  society, 
and  mainly  by  the  strong  will  and  far-sighted  genius 
of  one  energetic  man. 

'  However,  I  am  taking  rather  an  unfair  peep  into 
the  future :  there  is  plenty  of  engineering  work  to 
be  done  yet,  before  we  shall  have  levelled  the  diffi- 
culties and  smoothed  the  inequalities  of  the  road. 

'The  first  great  step  in  the  right  direction  was, 
however,  taken,  when,  on  the  2/th  of  September 
1825,  amidst  crowds  of  spectators,  many  of  whom 
were  drawn  together  by  the  excitement  of  seeing 
"  the  great  blow-up,"  the  Darlington  Railway  was 
opened  in  all  state.  Flags  flew,  bands  played  their 
liveliest  tunes,  the  devoted  adherents  of  Stephenson 
risked  their  lives  for  his  sake,  boldly  stepping  into 
the  carriages  prepared  for  them.  Stephenson  him- 
self mounted  the  engine,  determining  that  he  would 
drive  it, — his  the  post  whether  of  honour  or  of  dan- 


Great  Success  of  the  First  Locomotive.   1 6 7 

ger.  There  were  a  few  moments  of  intense  excite- 
ment, and  the  crowd  with  hushed  breath  awaited 
the  given  signal.  Hark  !  there  it  is  ;  and  amidst 
the  shrieks  of  the  engine,  and  the  excited  cheers  of 
the  crowd,  off  starts  the  locomotive  at  the  frightful 
speed  of  twelve  miles  an  hour.  Alas  for  the  un- 
fortunate passengers !  they  must  have  thought  they 
were  being  whirled  to  destruction.  The  excitement 
with  which  the  arrival  of  the  train  was  expected  at 
Stockton  was  little  less  than  that  which  had  watched 
its  departure  from  Darlington.  Would  it  ever  arrive 
at  all  ?  Suppose  the  engine  had  blown  up  by  the 
way,  destroying  itself  and  all  connected  with  it ! 
How  every  eye  must  have  been  strained  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  coming  train,  to  catch  the  first  faint 
puff  of  steam  against  the  far  horizon  ! 

* "  Here,  here  it  comes  ;  yes,  here  it  is  !"  and  amidst 
the  deafening  cheers  of  the  people  Stephenson  reined 
in  his  fiery  steed,  and  descended  from  his  fatiguing 
and  arduous  post,  to  receive  the  hearty  and  well- 
earned  congratulations  of  a  crowd  of  wondering  ad- 
mirers.' 

'  Oh,  but,  mamma/  exclaimed  Arthur,  '  what  a 
pity  that  Robert  was  not  there!  How  happy  he 
would  have  felt,  and  how  proud  of  his  father ! ' 

'  He  would  indeed ;  it  must  have  been  a  great 
disappointment  to  them  both.  However,  it  is  per- 
haps better  for  us  that  we  cannot  have  all  we  wish 
for  in  this  world ;  and  God  mercifully  blessed  the 


1 68  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

means  taken  for  restoring  the  son's  health,  and  sent 
him  back  to  his  father  at  a  time  when  he  really 
needed  him  much  more  than  in  this  his  hour  of 
success.  It  would  take  too  long  for  me  to  tell  you 
about  that  to-day.  When  I  have  time,  you  shall 
know  the  very  important  results  which  followed 
on  Stephenson's  first  great  triumph  of  engineering 
skill/ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Projected  railroad  between  Manchester  and  Liverpool — Difficulties — 
Stephenson  appointed  engineer  ;  displaced  ;  reappointed — Trial 
of  the  locomotive. l 

\  AMMA,  I  do  not  think  you  are  doing  any 
thing  particular,  are  you  ?'  asked  Ernest. 
'  No.     Why  do  you  ask  ? ' 
'Because  we  want  to  know  what  be- 
came of  Mr.  Stephenson  and  his  locomotive/ 

'  You  may  come  then,  and  I  will  try  and  satisfy 
your  curiosity/ 

'  Oh,  thank  you/  exclaimed  Ernest,  and  off  he  ran 
to  call  Charles  and  Arthur. 

'  I  want  to  know/  said  Charles,  '  how  long  it  was 
before  the  locomotives  beat  the  horses  off  the  rail/ 

'  Some  considerable  time/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 
'  Changes  of  such  magnitude  as  those  proposed  by 
Mr.  Stephenson  cannot  be  made  in  a  day,  even 
though  attended  with  the  complete  success  that  fol- 
lowed in  this  particular  instance.  So  rapid,  how- 
ever, was  the  increase  of  the  traffic  on  the  line,  both 

1  See  Smiles'  Life  of  Stephenson t  pp.  208-298. 


1 70  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

in  passengers  and  in  the  carnage  of  goods,  that 
Stephenson  saw  clearly  some  large  accession  of 
working  engines  would  soon  be  wanted,  and  he 
knew  that  his  own  manufactory  at  Newcastle  would 
be  much  too  small  to  do  the  work  required  ;  but 
with  the  very  limited  capital  he  himself  possessed, 
it  became  a  subject  of  anxiety  how  the  proposed 
alterations  were  to  be  made.  In  this  perplexity  he 
consulted  Mr.  Pease,  who  instantly  removed  thfc 
difficulty,  by  offering  to  become  his  partner  in  the 
new  undertaking.  This  was  in  every  way  satis- 
factory to  Mr.  Stephenson :  he  and  Mr.  Pease 
thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated  each  other, 
and  he  was  overjoyed  to  find  a  partner  so  entirely 
to  his  taste.  No  time  was  lost  in  organizing  the  . 
new  establishment,  and  the  best  workmen  who  * 
could  be  procured  were  soon  in  course  of  training 
for  the  construction  of  new  and  constantly  improv- 
ing engines  ;  and  to  such  skill  did  they  at  length 
attain,  that  years  afterwards,  when  all  the  great 
continental  and  foreign  railways  were  being  made, 
there  was  not  a  nation  in  the  world  which  was  not 
anxious  to  engage  in  its  service  some  one  or  more  of 
the  trained  workmen  from  the  then  celebrated  New- 
castle manufactory. 

'  Hardly  had  Stephenson  brought  his  first  railway 
undertaking  to  its  successful  termination,  when  he 
was  called  upon  to  commence  another  and  much 
more  arduous  work.  You  may  remember  that  I 


Another  Railway  Projected.  171 

told  you  that  Mr.  James,  and  some  of  the  principal 
merchants  of  Manchester  and  Liverpool,  had  been 
anxious  to  find  some  rapid  means  of  communica- 
tion between  the  towns. 

'  Although  the  opposition  they  met  with  in  first 
proposing  the  plan  had  induced  them  to  abandon  it 
for  the  moment,  yet  it  was  always  present  to  the 
minds  of  Mr.  James  and  others,  and  they  only 
waited  a  favourable  time  for  again  bringing  it  for- 
ward. No  sooner  did  they  hear  of  the  progress 
that  Stephenson  was  making  with  the  Darlington 
and  Stockton  line,  than  some  members  of  the  com- 
mittee into  which  the  Manchester  and  Liverpool 
gentlemen  had  formed  themselves,  determined  to 
pay  a  visit  to  Darlington,  and  judge  for  themselves 
of  the  actual  working  and  probable  success  of  the 
line.  So  perfectly  satisfied  were  they  with  all  they 
saw,  that,  on  their  .return  to  Liverpool,  they  urged 
as  strongly  as  possible  that  no  time  should  be  lost 
in  obtaining  from  Parliament  an  Act  which  should 
empower  the  immediate  construction  of  a  railway  be- 
tween the  towns  ;  and  as  soon  as  their  arrangements 
were  definitely  made,  they  unanimously  begged  that 
Mr.  Stephenson  would  undertake  the  survey  of  the 
line,  with  an  understanding,  that  should  the  required 
grant  be  obtained,  he  should  be  appointed  their 
engineer. 

1  It  was  fortunate  for  them  they  made  so  judicious 
a  selection.  Perhaps  no  other  man  in  England  could 


172  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

have  brought  them  successfully  through  the  innu- 
merable difficulties  with  which  they  had  to  contend. 
You  who  live  in  days  when  to  be  near  a  railroad 
is  considered  the  greatest  possible  advantage — in- 
creasing the  price  of  property,  and  promoting  in 
.every  way  our  comfort  and  convenience — cannot 
imagine  the  panic  that  the  very  name  of  a  railway 
excited  some  thirty  years  ago.  It  was  to  bring  ruin, 
destruction,  death,  to  everything  it  came  near.  The 
air  was  to  be  poisoned  with  the  noxious  smells  of 
the  engines ;  cattle  grazing  in  the  fields  would  die 
with  fright  at  its  hideous  shrieks  and  squeaks.  It 
would  be  no  longer  safe  to  travel  on  any  road  near 
which  a  railway  ran ;  for  what  horse  could  be  trained 
to  bear  the  sight  of  the  infernal  monster  ?  There 
would  be  no  end  to  the  accidents,  and  of  the  peril 
to  life  and  limb ;  and  as  to  the  travellers  on  the 
line  itself,  who  would  be  so  rash  as  to  trust  them- 
selves to  a  conveyance  exposing  them,  almost  of  a 
necessity,  to  a  sudden  and  most  awful  death  ?  And 
many  went  further  still,  declaring  that  it  was  an 
impious  daring  of  Providence  to  venture  to  propose 
a  plan  so  fraught  with  danger  to  the  human  race/ 

'  Oh  mamma !  But  were  they  educated  men  who 
could  talk  such  nonsense  ?' 

'  Yes ;  men  of  the  very  highest  education.  It 
seems  ridiculous  to  us  now,  because  we  have  the 
advantage  of  living  at  a  time  when  the  problem  is 
solved.  Had  we  lived  thirty  years  ago,  we  should 


Stephensoris  Schemes  Denounced.        1 73 

most  probably  have  thought  as  they  did.  And  this 
should  teach  us  to  be  careful  how  we  laugh  at  the 
mistakes  of  others  ;  for,  after  all,  it  was  natural 
enough  that  people  should  be  afraid  of  a  power 
they  could  so  little  comprehend.  Even  Stephen- 
son's  great  friend,  Mr.  Wood,  the  man  who  had 
been  his  confidant  from  the  very  beginning,  who 
had  worked  with  him  hour  by  hour,  and  traced 
the  progress  of  the  locomotive  from  its  very  com- 
mencement, was  anxious  to  throw  from  himself  the 
responsibility  and  the  ridicule  which  he  thought 
attached  to  the  too  sanguine  expectations  of  his 
enthusiastic  friend  ;  and  expressed,  as  his  decided 
opinion,  that  nothing  could  be  more  absurd  than  to 
affirm  that  engines  could  be  made  to  travel  at  the 
rate  of  from  twelve  to  twenty  miles  an  hour.  "  To 
promulgate  such  nonsense,"  he  said,  "  will  da  more 
than  anything  else  to  prevent  their  adoption  and 
improvement." 

'Stephenson,  however,  thought  differently.  But 
it  was  only  in  a  very  small  and  select  circle  of  his 
friends  that  he  was  able  to  give  vent  to  his  thoughts ; 
and  even  they  only  listened  gravely,  just  to  please 
and  humour  a  man  whom  they  loved,  begging  him 
at  the  same  time  to  keep  his  speculations  for  their 
especial  edification  ;  for  there  would  be  an  end  of  all 
hope  of  carrying  out  their  proposed  plan  of  a  rail- 
road, if  once  his  wild  theories  were  publicly  known. 
People  would  say  he  was  mad  ;  and  who  would 


1 74  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

trust  their  concerns  to  the  tender  keeping  of  a  mad- 
man ?  Stephenson  only  laughed  good-naturedly, 
and  begged  them  to  wait  a  few  years  before  they 
pronounced  a  decided  opinion  on  this  subject,  as 
he  thought  it  was  one  of  which  he  was  more  capable 
of  judging  than  themselves ;  and  meanwhile  he  de- 
voted himself  to  the  survey  of  the  new  line,  and  to 
making  all  the  necessary  calculations  as  to  its  pro- 
bable expense. 

'  And  now,  for  the  first  time,  he  felt  the  full  force 
of  the  ignorant  opposition  with  which  he  had  to 
contend.  Even  in  surveying  the  ground,  he  had  to 
dispute  his  way  inch  by  inch.  The  great  landed 
proprietors  through  whose  estates  he  wished  to 
pass,  having  given  the  most  positive  directions  that 
neither  he  nor  his  men  should  be  allowed  to  place 
foot  on  their  property,  consequently  no  sooner  did 
he  attempt  to  take  his  levels,  than  he  was  sure  to 
find  himself  assailed  by  a  group  of  bailiffs,  or  game- 
keepers, or  labourers,  as  the  case  might  be,  who 
angrily  warned  him  off  the  ground  ;  at  times  threat- 
ening him  with  personal  injury,  at  times  destroying 
his  valuable  engineering  instruments.  There  was 
one  thing,  however,  of  which  they  in  vain  endea- 
voured to  deprive  him, — Stephenson  never  lost  his 
temper.  They  might  threaten  to  duck  him ;  he 
laughed,  and  gave  them  permission.  They  broke 
his  instruments  ;  well,  he  could  get  fresh.  He  must 
return  whence  he  came.  So  he  did  ;  but  it  was'only 


Opposition  in  Parliament.  175 

to  come  back  again  another  way.  You  could  not 
discourage  him,  for  difficulties  only  gave  him  fresh 
energy ;  you  could  not  affront  him,  for  he  had  quite 
made  up  his  mind  he  would  not  take  offence.  He  was 
an  impracticable  man :  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  let  him  go  on  and  conquer.  And  thus,  in  spite  of 
all  obstacles,  the  survey  was  at  last  completed,  and 
the  bill  for  the  railroad  went  up  to  Parliament. 

'  But  here,  again,  they  were  met  with  a  fresh  and 
more  troublesome  opposition  than  before.  The  very 
first  lawyers  in  England  were  retained  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  measure,  in  the  hope  that  when  it  went 
into  committee  their  talent  and  eloquence  might  so 
demonstrate  the  absurdity  of  the  scheme,  and  throw 
the  company  into  such  disrepute,  that  all  idea  of  the 
proposed  railway  might  be  given  up  for  years,  if  not 
wholly  abandoned. 

'  But  they  did  not  know  the  man  with  whom  they 
had  to  contend.  Both  sides  were  perfectly  aware 
that  the  brunt  of  the  struggle  would  rest  with 
George  Stephenson.  If  his  adversaries  could  suc- 
ceed in  breaking  up  his  evidence,  good-bye  to  the 
locomotive ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  could  hold  his 
ground,  its  ultimate  triumph  was  certain,  though  it 
might  be  for  a  while  delayed.  The  knowledge  of 
how  much  depended  upon  him,  made  Mr.  Stephen- 
son's  first  visit  to  London  a  remarkably  anxious  and 
disagreeable  one  ;  and  he  always  after  spoke  of  his 
first  examination  before  the  committee  of  the  House 


176  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

of  Commons  as  one  of  the  most  painful  ordeals 
through  which  he  had  ever  passed.  And  no  wonder. 
Not  an  effort  was  left  untried  to  turn  him  into  ridi- 
cule, to  bother  and  perplex  him  ;  and  it  is  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  proofs  of  his  innate  power  and 
intelligence,  that  these  efforts  were  so  little  success- 
ful. Here  was  a  self-educated  man  suddenly  placed 
in  a  position  such  as  he  had  never  occupied  before, 
everything  around  him  new  and  strange  and  start- 
ling, opposed  to  the  most  highly  cultivated  and 
acute  minds  of  the  day,  and  required  to  be  ready  at 
a  moment's  notice  to  confute  their  most  subtle  ob- 
jections. Well  might  he  say,  "I  had  not  been  long 
in  the  witness-box  before  I  began  to  wish  for  a  hole 
to  creep  out  of."  He  might  wish  it,  but  no  one  who 
saw  him  then  would  have  divined  it  from  his  man- 
ner. With  the  perfect  self-respect  of  a  really  great 
mind,  he  calmly  endured  the  most  rigorous  and 
insulting  examination.  He  knew  he  was  no  match 
for  his  opponents  in  eloquence,  but  he  met  their 
taunts  and  sneers  with  a  practical  demonstration  of 
what  he  had  already  done,  and  replied  to  all  their 
eloquent  denunciations  of  his  folly  and  wild  enthu- 
siasm, with  such  plain,  good,  common  sense,  as  was 
of  itself  the  best  refutation  of  their  accusations. 
There  was  only  one  point  that  did  bother  him, 
and  that  was,  that  his  friends  had  most  strictly  for- 
bidden him  to  make  any  allusion  to  the  speed  with 
which  he  prophesied  the  locomotive  would  travel. 


Stephenson  before  the  Committee.        177 

'"All  depends  upon  this  examination  of  yours,'' 
they  said.  "Do,  then,  keep  your  wild,  visionary 
speculations  to  yourself." 

' "  But  truth  is  truth,"  urged  Stephenson. 

' "  That  may  be ;  but  even  truth  must  sometimes 
not  be  spoken.  We  give  you  ten  miles  an  hour 
— nothing  beyond." 

' "  Give  me  six  times  ten,  and  you  will  be  nearer 
the  mark,"  replied  their  incorrigible  engineer.  "  But, 
however,  you  may  trust  me.  I  will  keep  it  to  myself, 
if  I  can." 

'And  very  hard  he  struggled  to  remember  his 
promise,  but  it  would  not  do.  Goaded  on  by  the 
opposing  counsel,  he  boldly  stated  the  engine 
might  run  twelve  miles  an  hour  as  easy  as  four. 
His  friends  trembled ;  his  opponents  triumphed. 
He  had  admitted  a  manifest  absurdity,  they  said  ; 
but  Stephenson,  quite  unabashed,  calmly  and  em- 
phatically repeated  his  statement.  The  utmost 
efforts  of  his  adversaries  were  unavailing  to  break 
down  his  evidence  on  that,  or  any  other  point  on 
which  his  own  mind  was  made  up  ;  but  they  suc- 
ceeded in  so  working  on  the  fears  and  prejudices  of 
the  majority  of  the  committee,  that  the  bill  was  lost 
for  that  session,  and  the  railway  directors  had  all 
their  work  to  do  over  again. 

'  Stephenson  was  not  disheartened ;  but  he  was 
perhaps  the  only  man  who  was  not.  Even  the  faith 
of  his  best  friends  was  shaken.  They  had  heard  him 

M 


178  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

accused  of  such  arrant  folly  and  madness,  that  at 
last  they  began  to  think  there  must  be  some  truth 
in  such  reiterated  accusations,  and  to  doubt  how  far 
they  were  wise  to  trust  their  concerns  in  his  hands. 
They  would  not  give  up  the  idea  of  their  railroad, 
but  they  would  confide  it  to  the  care  of  some  one  a 
little  less  speculative  and  enthusiastic/ 

'  Oh !  if  they  are  going  to  take  it  away  from 
Stephenson/  exclaimed  Charles  indignantly,  '  I  hope 
they  will  fail  in  everything  they  undertake,  and  be 
beaten  over  and  over  again.  What  a  shame  !' 

'  I  think  it  was  a  great  shame/  replied  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville.  *  They  at  least  had  had  an  opportunity  of 
testing  the  soundness  of  Stephenson's  judgment, 
by  the  success  of  the  works  he  had  already  under- 
taken, and  they  should  have  had  the  moral  courage 
to  uphold  the  man  of  their  own  choice.  Fearful, 
however,  of  compromising  their  success  in  another 
session,  they  employed  a  very  eminent  engineer, 
Mr.  Rennie,  to  survey  the  line  again,  taking  rather 
a  different  course  from  that  indicated  by  Stephen- 
son,  and  making  fresh  calculations  for  the  expense  ; 
and  immediately  on  the  meeting  of  Parliament  a 
bill  was  brought  forward  for  the  construction  of  the 
railroad,  and  this  time  it  was  passed,  though  not 
without  considerable  opposition/ 

'  Oh,  poor  Stephenson !  How  sorry  I  am  for 
his  disappointment !'  exclaimed  the  children. 

'  It  was  destined  not  to  be  so  great  as  it  at  first 


Chat  Moss.  179 

appeared/  continued  Mrs.  Grenville.  '  Mr.  Rennie, 
who  was  a  man  in  full  work,  declined  to  take  the 
immediate  superintendence  of  the  construction  of 
the  line,  telling  the  directors  they  must  be  content 
with  his  occasional  visits.  This,  however,  did  not 
satisfy  them.  They  felt,  truly  enough,  that  such 
a  novel  and  important  undertaking  would  require 
the  undivided  attention  of  even  a  clever  and  ener- 
getic man.  If,  therefore,  Mr.  Rennie  could  not  do 
the  work  himself,  they  should  offer  it  again  to 
Stephenson.  Rennie  was  very  angry  ;  but  there 
was  no  help  for  it :  he  must  make  his  election.  He 
declined  the  appointment,  and  Stephenson  found 
himself  in  his  old  post ;  and  with  his  usual  energy 
he  set  to  work,  without  a  moment's  delay,  to  dis- 
cover the  means  of  overcoming  a  difficulty  which 
had  been  pronounced  insuperable  by  the  most  emi- 
nent engineers  of  the  day.  Between  Manchester 
and  Liverpool  the  line  crossed  a  great  bog  of  four 
miles  in  extent,  called  Chat  Moss,  a  place  so  utterly 
desolate,  that  no  one  had  ever  been  wild  enough  to 
think  of  making  even  a  common  road  across  it. 
The  ground  was  so  bad  that  you  could  only  walk 
on  it  at  all  in  the  very  driest  weather,  and  the  least 
pressure  in  the  wet  would  have  sunk  you  down  to 
a  depth  of  thirty-four  feet.  It  did  not  sound  hope- 
ful for  a  railway  certainly,  and  perhaps  no  one  but 
Stephenson  would  have  been  bold  enough  to  at- 
tempt such  an  apparent  absurdity. 


180  The  Triitmphs  of  Steam. 

'  However  wild,  though,  his  plans  might  seem,  they 
always  stood  on  a  firm  basis  of  common  sense.  He 
had  calculated  that,  as  a  ship  floats  in  water,  so 
could  a  railroad  be  supported  on  a  bog,  if  only  he 
could  get  his  rails  to  float  The  point  was,  how  to 
manage  this ;  but  he  thought  he  had  hit  on  the 
way.  He  cut  drains  till  he  had  drained  away  the 
water  to  a  certain  extent,  and  then  contrived  to 
make  hurdles  float  upon  the  surface  of  the  bog, 
ballast  being  placed  upon  them,  and  cross  sleepers 
to  support  the  rails.  It  sounds  simple  enough  as  I 
tell  you  now,  but  the  difficulties  were  in  reality 
greater  than  I  can  explain  to  you.  It  requires  a 
practical  engineer  to  understand  the  full  merits  of 
the  work,  or  the  anxiety  which  it  cost  Mr.  Stephen- 
son.  Sometimes  the  drains  would  give  way,  and  his 
operations  be  all  flooded.  Sometimes  the  weight  of 
the  line  would  squeeze  down  the  bog,  and  then  it 
would  not  float.  Sometimes  it  seemed  impossible 
that  the  world  itself  could  contain  rubbish  enough 
to  pour  into  the  insatiable  swamp  to  make  a  firm 
and  floating  way.  The  directors  were  in  despair. 

'"What  are  we  to  do?"  they  exclaimed,  as  day 
followed  day,  and  still  there  was  no  apparent  pro- 
gress made  in  the  work. 

' "  Persevere,"  replied  Stephenson. 

'  And  however  often  the  question  was  asked  him, 
.still  he  met  it  with  the  same  unalterable  reply. 
Great  was  the  joy  of  his  opponents  when  they 


Perseverance  Rewarded.  1 8 1 

thought  that  at  last  they  had  their  adversary  in  an 
inextricable  fix.  The  most  absurd  rumours  were 
everywhere  rife.  Now  it  was  said,  "  Chat  Moss  had 
blown  up  ;"  now,  "  That  hundreds  of  men  and  work- 
men were  engulphed  and  lost  in  the  bog ;"  now, 
better  still,  "That  Stephenson  himself  had  been 
swallowed  up,  and  there  was  an  end  of  his  specula- 
tions for  ever."  The  wish  was  father  to  the  thought. 
Whilst  this  gratifying  piece  of'  intelligence  was  cir- 
culating, Stephenson  was  putting  the  finishing  touches 
to  his  great  undertaking  ;  and  in  six  months  from 
the  time  when  a  meeting  of  the  directors  had  pro- 
nounced, "  The  works  must  be  abandoned,  the  thing 
could  never  be  done,"  the  rails  were  all  in  their 
places,  and  those  very  directors  speeding  away  com- 
fortably in  a  railway  carriage  over  that  very  bog 
which  would  have  been  considered  for  ever  im- 
passable, but  for  Stephenson's  firm  determination 
to  keep  to  his  motto,  and  to  "  persevere." 

'  Chat  Moss  once  crossed,  everything  else  seemed 
easy  by  comparison.  The  faith  of  the  directors  was 
strengthened,  and  even  those  most  opposed  to 
Stephenson  thought  twice  before  they  openly  criti- 
cised the  proceedings  of  a  man  who  had  thrown  a 
railway  over  an  unapproachable  swamp.  People 
looked  on  and  wondered  what  would  come  next, 
when  neither  the  opposition  of  men,  nor  the  ap- 
parently insurmountable  obstacles  of  nature,  had  the 
slightest  effect  in  turning  the  indefatigable  engineer 


1 8  2  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

from  his  purpose.  His  greatest  difficulty  now  was 
to  organize  a  body  of  workmen  who  could  under- 
stand and  execute  his  orders/ 

'Why,  aunt/  exclaimed  Charles,  'why  did  he  not 
employ  the  navvies  ? ' 

'  Because  there  were  no  navvies  then,  at  least  not 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  now  use  the  term  when  we 
apply  it  to  the  men  who  are  employed  almost  exclu- 
sively in  the  construction  of  railways, — and  a  vigor- 
ous, energetic  body  of  workers  they  are,  with  their 
own  laws  and  regulations,  and  code  of  morality.  But 
when  Stephenson  wanted  help,  he  had  to  look  out 
for  it  for  himself;  and  with  his  usual  judgment  he 
applied  to  a  very  strong,  powerful  class  of  men,  who 
earned  their  livelihood  by  making  canals  and  works 
of  that  description.  These  men  were  called  navi- 
gators, a  word  afterwards  corrupted  into  the  shorter 
term  navvy,  and  were  peculiarly  well  fitted  by  their 
previous  habits  of  life  for  being  formed  into  just  such 
a  band  of  workmen  as  Stephenson  required.  How- 
ever, although  he  had  thus  found  the  materials,  he 
had  to  mould  them  himself  into  shape ;  and  very  hard 
work  this  was.  He  knew  that  precept  without  prac- 
tice is  of  no  worth  whatever,  and  that  if  he  wished 
them  to  become  skilled  artisans,  he  must  see  that 
they  were  well  taught  their  trade  :  consequently  he 
himself  took  part  in  their  work,  sometimes  wheel- 
ing the  barrows,  sometimes  using  the  pickaxe,  or 
whatever  might  be  the  business  in  hand, — explaining 


The  Navvies.  183 

at  all  times  the  principles  on  which  he  acted  to  the 
men,  and  showing  them  how  the  greatest  amount  of 
labour  might  be  effected  with  the  smallest  possible 
expenditure  of  time  and  strength.  Nothing  was  too 
small  for  him  to  think  it  worth  his  closest  attention  ; 
nothing  was  beyond  the  grasp  of  his  mind.  The 
consequence  was,  that  he  gradually  trained  a  body 
of  men  who  have  since  become  the  wonder  of  the 
whole  world  for  their  skill,  their  strength,  and  their 
indomitable  energy. 

'  But  extraordinary  as  were  Stephenson's  powers, 
there  is  a  limit  to  all  things  human.  He  could  not 
be  everywhere  at  once,  and  he  soon 'became  pain- 
fully aware  that  if  his  time  and  attention  were  to  be 
absorbed  with  his  engineering  work,  his  locomotive, 
the  cherished  favourite,  on  which  his  hopes  of  future 
fame  depended,  would  too  certainly  be  neglected. 
In  this  perplexity  his  thoughts  naturally  reverted  to 
his  son.  If  Robert  could  be  at  Newcastle  whilst  he 
was  detained  at  Liverpool,  why,  then,  all  would  be 
well ;  for  Robert  was  quite  as  devoted  to  the  loco- 
motive as  he  was  himself.  Most  happily,  he  had 
received  such  improved  accounts  of  his  son's  health, 
that  he  did  not  scruple  to  write  and  explain  to  him 
his  difficulties  and  his  wishes.  Robert,  to  whom  his 
father's  fame  was  at  all  times  dearer  than  his  own, 
was  only  too  glad  to  comply  with  Mr.  Stephenson's 
request.  He  made  immediate  arrangements  for 
giving  up  his  appointment  in  America,  and  then 


184  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

lost  not  a  moment  in  returning  to  put  himself  and 
his  services  at  his  father's  disposal.  He  came  back 
just  in  time.  The  fate  of  the  locomotive  was  trem- 
bling in  the  balance  :  it  was  his  talent  which  was 
destined  to  turn  the  scale. 

'The  Liverpool  Railroad  was  almost  concluded, 
and  now  came  the  question,  How  was  it  to  be 
worked  ?  To  employ  horse  labour  was  evidently 
out  of  the  question.  Should  fixed  stationary  en- 
gines, therefore,  be  constructed  along  the  line  ?  or 
should  the  locomotive  first  be  tried  ?  For  the  first 
time  Stephenson  was  taken  aback  ;  he  had  never 
had  any  idea  but  that  the  locomotive  was  to  be 
used.  What !  after  all  his  trouble,  was  this  to  be 
the  end  ?  What  could  the  directors  be  thinking 
about  ?  It  was  in  vain  he  urged,  —  in  vain  he 
pointed  out  the  immense  advantages  which  would 
accrue  to  the  company  by  the  use  of  the  locomotive. 
The  innovation  was  too  bold  ;  the  directors  shook 
their  heads ;  they  must  take  counsel.  And  so 
they  did  ;  and  all  the  engineers  decided  against 
Stephenson.  "What!  could  they  not  trust  the 
man  who  had  crossed  Chat  Moss  ? "  he  said.  "  Had 
he  ever  deceived  them?  Had  he  ever  told  them 
he  could  do  any  one  given  thing  without  faithfully 
keeping  his  promise,  even  to  the  very  most  minute 
particular  ?  Why,  then,  not  trust  him  now  ?  Only 
give  him  the  trial ;  it  was  all  he  asked.  On  such 
a  point  as  this,  and  after  all  he  had  done  for  them, 


Engine  Competition.  185 

surely  this  was  not  too  great  a  concession  for  them 
to  make  ? " 

'  The  directors  were  fairly  puzzled.  All  that  Mr. 
Stephenson  told  them  was  true  enough  ;  but  then, 
there  he  stood  alone  in  his  judgment.  Suppose  he 
was  wrong  ;  why,  what  fools  the  world  would  think 
them !  Yes  ;  but  suppose  he  was  right,  why  they 
would  be  greater  fools  still,  not  to  profit  by  his 
knowledge.  And  so  at  length  they  gave  in  to  a  sort 
of  compromise.  They  offered  a  reward  to  any  en- 
gineer who  should  build  an  engine  having  certain 
indispensable  qualifications.  These  engines  were  to 
be  built  by  a  certain  day,  and  tried  upon  the  Liver- 
pool line.  If  they  answered,  well  and  good, — then 
the  line  should  be  worked  by  the  locomotive ;  if 
they  failed,  it  was  only  the  delay  of  a  few  weeks, 
till  the  stationary  engines  could  be  erected. 

'  Stephenson  was  satisfied  :  all  he  wanted  was  a 
trial.  Robert  was  again  in  England,  and  with  his 
aid  failure  was  impossible.  Great  was  the  excite- 
ment amongst  the  engineers  as  soon  as  the  decision 
of  the  Liverpool  board  of  directors  was  made  known  ; 
and  an  eager  competition  was  commenced  as  to  who 
should  get  the  most  perfect  engine  ready  by  the 
appointed  day. 

'  At  Newcastle  the  best  hands  were  pressed  into 
the  service,  and,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr. 
Robert  Stephenson,  the  construction  of  a  new  and 
much  improved  engine  went  rapidly  forward.  It 


1 86  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

must  have  been  an  exciting  time  both  to  father 
and  to  son,  as  they  talked  over,  and  planned,  and 
arranged,  and  re-arranged  every  portion  of  the 
machinery  of  the  "  Rocket."  How  much  both  for 
them  and  for  the  world  at  large  depended  on  the 
conduct  of  their  favourite  ! 

'At  length  the  time  of  trial  arrived.  Of  all  the 
engines  that  had  been  constructed,  only  four  were 
found  to  combine  all  the  requisite  qualifications. 
These  were : 

'  Messrs.  Braithwaite  &  Ericsson's  "  Novelty." 

'  Mr.  Hackworth's  "  Sanspareil." 

'  Mr.  Burstall's  "  Perseverance." 

'  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson's  "  Rocket." 

'  The  ground  chosen  for  the  trial  was  about  two 
miles  in  length,  and  each  engine  was  to  make  twenty 
trips,  the  speed  never  being  less  than  ten  miles  an 
hour.  It  was  like  a  tournament  in  olden  times,  and 
crowds  flocked  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  see 
the  engines  enter  the  lists.  Their  powers  were  to 
be  tested  separately  ;  and  great  was  the  excitement, 
and  endless  the  speculations,  as  to  who  would  be  the 
victor.  The  suspense  was  not  destined  to  last  very 
long.  The  "  Sanspareil "  was  too  heavy,  consumed 
too  large  a  proportion  of  fuel,  and  broke  down  on 
the  eighth  trip.  The  "  Novelty  "  burst  twice.  The 
"  Perseverance "  had  to  be  withdrawn  altogether. 
On  the  "  Rocket,"  then,  and  the  "  Rocket "  alone, 
hung  the  fate  of  himself  and  all  his  race. 


Success  of  the  '  Rocket'  1 8  7 

'  Now,  Stephenson,  can  you  look  on  calmly  and 
wait  the  result  ?  Yes  ;  you  have  faith  in  yourself, 
and  faith  in  your  son.  Get  the  engine  ready  and 
let  her  go.  Ready  ?  ay,  ready.  Backwards  and 
forwards,  backwards  and  forwards.  Why,  they  can- 
not stop  her.  Cannot  they  ?  they  are  only  testing 
her  powers.  She  is  going  nine-and-twenty  miles  an 
hour  now ;  wait,  and  in  a  few  moments  you  will  see 
her  come  in  at  the  goal  as  quiet  and  as  well  in 
hand  as  the  gentlest  pony  that  was  ever  obedient 
to  a  lady's  touch.  Well  might  the  people  cheer. 
Well  might  the  directors  chuckle  inwardly,  as  they 
thought  of  raised  dividends.  Well  might  the  father 
and  the  son  rejoice  in  their  success,  as  with  calm 
self-respect  they  received  the  congratulations  of  all 
that  numerous  throng.  They  had  done  a  great 
work,  a  work  of  which  they  had  a  right  to  be  proud ; 
for  they  had  triumphed  over  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice, and  risen  by  the  force  of  their  own  native 
power  and  worth  over  the  still  more  insurmountable 
barriers  of  caste.  From  this  moment  not  only  was 
their  position  secured,  but  they  had  decided  for  ever 
the  fate  of  railways  and  of  the  locomotive/ 

'  Oh,  I  am  so  glad  ! '  exclaimed  Arthur.  '  I  should 
have  been  so  dreadfully  disappointed  if  the  "Rocket" 
had  broken  down/ 

'  What  became  of  the  "Rocket?"'  inquired  Charles. 
'  If  I  had  been  Mr.  Stephenson,  I  should  have  kept 
it  for  ever  as  a  trophy/ 


1 88  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  It  did  not  belong  to  Mr.  Stephenson/  replied 
Mrs.  Grenville.  '  It  was  built  for  the  company,  and 
worked  on  the  line  till  1837,  when  the  directors 
most  ungratefully  sold  it  to  make  room  for  more 
powerful  engines.  I  think  the  least  they  could  have 
done,  would  have  been  to  give  it  back  to  Mr.  Stephen- 
son  when  they  had  no  further  use  for  it  themselves. 
However,  after  many  adventures  and  misadventures, 
it  has  found  rest  at  last.  A  good  many  years  after 
the  Liverpool  directors  had  parted  with  it,  it  was 
once  again  for  sale.  Mr.  Stephenson  himself  be- 
came the  purchaser,  sending  the  engine  to  his  New- 
castle manufactory  ;  and  there  it  now  stands,  a 
memorial,  for  all  time  coming,  of  the  wonders  that 
may  be  wrought,  simply  by  energy  and  persever- 
ance/ 

'Oh  mamma,  mamma,  that  is  not  quite  fair!' 
exclaimed  Ernest.  '  Think  what  wonderful  talent 
both  Stephensons  had.  It  was  not  only  their  energy 
and  perseverance.' 

'  But  it  was  mainly  owing  to  those  qualities  that 
they  owed  their  success/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville ; 
'  and  either  of  the  Mr.  Stephensons  would  have 
been  the  first  to  tell  you  so  themselves.  Others 
have  had  quite  as  great,  perhaps  even  finer  talents, 
and  yet  have  done  nothing  with  them.  If  you  ever 
hope  to  succeed  as  the  Stephensons  did,  believe 
me,  there  is  nothing  lor  it  but  to  work  as  the  Ste- 
phensons worked/ 


Desire  for  Improvement.  189 

'  Well,  Aunt  Helen,  we  really  have  tried,  have  we 
not  ?'  added  Charles.  '  I  am  sure,  since  you  began 
to  tell  us  this  story,  I  have  made  more  efforts  to 
conquer  my  indolence  than  I  ever  did  in  my  whole 
life  before/ 

'  If  that  is  the  case,  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  say 
with  Mr.  Stephenson,  "  Persevere," '  replied  his  aunt, 
smiling.  'And  now  you  must  run  away  and  amuse 
yourselves,  for  I  have  got  some  letters  to  write, 
which  must  be  ready  for  to-day's  post.' 

Charles  was  not  wrong.  The  account  which  Mrs. 
Grenville  had  given  the  children  of  Mr.  Stephenson, 
his  sayings  and  doings,  had  taken  a  wonderful  hold 
on  their  imagination,  and  they  were  never  tired  of 
talking  over  all  his  adventures,  and  wondering  how 
far  in  the  same  circumstances  they  should  have  acted 
as  he  had  done.  Their  courage  was  destined  before 
long  to  be  put  to  the  proof. 

Charles  had  become  so  good  a  horseman,  that  Mr. 
Grenville  had  no  anxiety  about  trusting  him  to  go 
out  alone  or  only  with  Ernest,  and  the  two  cousins 
were  in  the  habit  of  taking  long  rides  all  over  the 
neighbourhood,  and  very  much  they  enjoyed  the 
freedom  of  their  gallops.  One  day  when  they  had 
been  out  rather  longer  than  usual,  and  were  return- 
ing home  quickly  to  make  up  for  lost  time,  as  they 
were  approaching  a  river  which  separated  the  parish 
of  Helmstead  from  that  in  which  Mr.  Grenville's  pro- 
perty was  situated,  Charles  suddenly  checked  his  pony. 


1 90  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'Stop,  Ernest!  Ernest!'  he  exclaimed.  'Listen, 
do  you  not  hear  cries  ?' 

Ernest  pulled  up  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  both 
boys  listened  intently.  '  Now  Ernest,  hark  !  hark  ! 
do  you  not  hear?' 

'Yes,  yes,  I  hear/  said  Ernest,  as  first  a  cry  of 
terror,  and  then  a  low  smothered  shriek,  was  borne 
past  them  by  the  wind. 

'  It  is  from  the  river/  exclaimed  Ernest.  '  Here, 
here,  to  the  right,  Charles ;'  and  both  boys  galloped 
on  as  fast  as  possible  in  the  direction  from  whence 
they  heard  the  sound.  As  they  neared  the  bank 
they  saw  a  little  girl  standing  in  a  perfect  agony  of 
terror,  and  crying  as  if  her  heart  would  break. 

'He  is  in,  he  is  in!'  was  all  she  could  gasp  out 
through  her  sobs. 

'Who  is  in?'  exclaimed  Ernest. 

'  My  brother !  my  brother !'  and  the  child  pointed 
towards  where  a  dark  body  rose  for  a  moment  to 
the  surface.  There  had  been  a  great  deal  of  rain 
lately  ;  the  river  was  swollen,  and  the  tide  was  run- 
ning rapidly.  Ernest  was  an  excellent  swimmer, 
but  it  required  a  stout  heart  to  think  of  battling 
with  that  roaring  stream.  For  a  moment  he  hesi- 
tated ;  then  came  the  thought  of  George  Stephenson 
to  his  mind,  how  he  had  dared  death  in  the  flames 
to  save  his  fellow-workmen.  All,  all  was  done  in 
far  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell,  as  turning  to  his 
cousin  he  exclaimed  eagerly: 


Rescue  from  Drowning.  191 

'  Charles,  ride  off  as  fast  as  the  pony  can  lay  legs 
to  ground,  there  to  that  farm  yonder ;  tell  them  to 
bring  help,  a  boy  is  drowning/ 

Without  waiting  to  know  his  cousin's  intention, 
Charles  galloped  off  to  do  his  bidding.  Ernest 
had  taken  his  resolution ;  he  rode  rapidly  forward, 
so  as  if  possible  to  head  the  current,  and  meet  the 
body  as  it  was  floating  down ;  then  springing  from 
his  pony,  he  plunged  gallantly  into  the  stream.  It 
was  stronger  than  he  had  calculated  upon,  and  in 
spite  of  his  utmost  efforts  it  bore  him  down.  Excite- 
ment and  his  strong  will  gave  him  for  the  moment 
unnatural  power,  and  just  as  he  had  succeeded  in 
breasting  the  flood,  to  his  unspeakable  joy  the  body 
of  which  he  was  in  search  came  floating  by.  Striking 
out  bravely,  he  grasped  at  it  with  his  hand,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  catching  hold  of  the  collar  of  the  poor 
boy's  coat.  It  was  perhaps  fortunate  for  both  that 
life  seemed  to  be  extinct.  Had  the  lad  struggled, 
or  had  he  clasped  Ernest  for  protection,  both  must 
inevitably  have  perished.  As  it  was,  it  was  a  hard 
matter  to  fight  his  own  way  against  the  stream, 
upholding  as  he  did  so  the  head  of  his  unfortunate 
companion.  His  strength  was  visibly  decreasing, 
his  breath  came  thick  and  painfully,  and  his  eyes 
were  growing  dim  and  hazy.  But  that  brave  young 
heart  within  him  never  quailed  or  trembled.  '  God 
be  with  me!'  passed  his  lips  more  fervently  than  per- 
haps prayer  had  ever  passed  his  lips  before ;  and 


1 92  7^he  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

God  was  with  him ;  and  just  as  Charles  returned 
with  succour  from  the  farm,  Ernest  had  drawn  his 
insensible  burden  from  the  water,  and,  faint  and 
trembling,  had  sunk  down  exhausted  by  his  side. 

Most  fortunately  a  medical  man  was  paying  a 
visit  to  a  sick  patient  at  the  farm,  at  the  very 
moment  when  Charles  arrived  there  ;  not  an  instant 
was  therefore  lost  in  obtaining  prompt  and  effectual 
succour. 

It  was  only  just  in  time ;  a  little  more  and  the 
last  spark  of  life  would  have  been  extinguished. 

'  But,  my  boy,  we  must  not  forget  you,'  said  the 
farmer,  turning  to  Ernest,  when,  under  the  direction 
of  the  medical  man,  the  unfortunate  lad  had  been 
conveyed  to  the  farm.  '  Come  in ;  we  must  find 
something  warm  and  comforting  for  you.  I  do  not 
know  who  you  be,  but  you  be  a  fine,  brave,  plucky 
fellow,  that  I  will  say  for  you/ 

'  I  am  Ernest  Grenville,'  replied  Ernest  quite 
simply. 

'  Sure  !  what,  the  squire's  son  ?  Then  I  wish  him 
joy  of  such  a  lad  ;'  and  the  honest  farmer  held  out 
his  hand,  giving  Ernest's  such  a  shake  as  might 
have  sufficed  of  itself  to  restore  suspended  circu- 
lation. 

But  he  did  not  content  himself  with  this  manifes- 
tation of  his  regard.  He  took  him  up  with  him  to 
the  farm,  ordered  a  warm  bath  for  him  as  quickly 
as  possible,  a  thorough  rubbing,  and  a  glass  of  good, 


Recovery  of  the  Boy.  193 

strong,  hot  cordial,  which  he  mixed  for  him  with  his 
own  hand  ;  and  as  Charles  was  very  unwilling  to 
leave  his  cousin,  and  also  very  anxious  to  know  the 
fate  of  the  boy  whom  Ernest  had  rescued,  the  farmer 
put  the  finishing  touch  to  his  kindness  by  sending 
off  one  of  his  own  men  on  Charles's  pony  to  the 
Grange,  to  tell  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grenville  that  the  boys 
were  in  safety,  and  to  beg  that  a  carnage  might  be 
sent  to  take  them  home. 

Very  much  restored  by  the  farmer's  treatment, 
Ernest's  only  thought  was  now  for  the  poor  boy ; 
and  great  was  his  delight  when,  after  a  period  of 
lengthened  suspense,  which  seemed  endless  to  the 
cousins,  the  medical  man  at  length  pronounced  that 
animation  was  returning,  and,  with  God's  blessing, 
he  thought  there  was  no  doubt  the  boy's  life  would 
be  spared.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  it  flashed  upon 
them  all  of  a  sudden  that  they  had  forgotten  the 
little  girl  ;  and  Charles,  who  thought  he  had  not 
taken  a  nearly  sufficiently  prominent  part  in  the 
events  of  the  day,  volunteered  instantly  to  go  in 
search  of  the  unfortunate  child.  But  the  farmer 
would  not  let  him  go  alone ;  and  so,  in  company 
with  one  of  the  labourers,  he  proceeded,  not  with- 
out serious  qualms  of  self-reproach  for  his  forgetful- 
ness,  to  endeavour  to  find  the  poor  child.  He  had 
not  far  to  go.  Overcome  with  grief  and  terror,  the 
poor  little  thing  had  sat  herself  down  under  a  hedge 
near  where  they  had  left  her,  and  there,  leaning  her 

N 


194  Tke  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

head  upon  the  bank,  she  had  fallen  fast  asleep,  the 
wild  flowers  her  pillow,  and  the  deep  blue  sky  her 
covering. 

'Poor  little  thing,  do  not  let  us  wake  her/  said 
Charles  ;  '  she  will  only  fret,  and  we  are  not  quite 
sure  yet  whether  her  brother  will  live  or  die.  I 
think  I  can  carry  her/ 

'  No,  no,  young  master/  said  the  man  kindly  ;  '  I 
am  more  fit  for  that  work  than  you :  you  lead  on, 
and  I  will  follow.'  And  lifting  her  up  in  his  arms, 
he  and  Charles  returned  to  the  farm  in  time  to  hear 
that  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grenville  had  arrived,  and 
that  Mr.  Fortescue  pronounced  that  his  patient  was 
entirely  out  of  danger. 

He  was  not  well  enough,  however,  to  speak.  It 
was  therefore  to  the  little  girl  they  must  look  for 
information  as  to  who  they  were,  and  whence  they 
had  come.  When  first,  however,  the  poor  little 
thing  had  awoke,  she  was  so  frightened  they  could 
make  nothing  out  of  her  account ;  but  gradually 
Mrs.  Grenville's  kind,  gentle  manners  so  won  upon 
her  affections  and  soothed  her  fears,  that  she  elicited 
sufficient  information  to  understand  that  her  name 
was  Danvers,  that  she  and  her  brother  were  the 
children  of  a  clergyman,  that  they  were  staying 
with  an  aunt  who  lived  about  two  miles  from  Helm- 
stead,  that  they  had  permission  to  go  and  fish  in  a 
pond  near  the  house,  but  that  some  boy  had  said 
there  was  better  fish  in  the  river,  and  so  they  had 


Stephenson  teaching  the  Navvies. 


P.  194. 


The  Girl's  Account  of  the  Accident.     195 

gone  there  to  try  their  luck.  She  did  not  know  how 
Alfred  had  fallen  in.  She  saw  him  fall,  and  heard 
him  cry  ;  and  then  the  stream  went  round,  oh,  so 
fast,  so  very  fast !  and  she  thought  he  was  swallowed 
up  ;  and  she  screamed  as  loud  as  she  could  ;  and 
then  two  boys  came  galloping  up,  and  she  knew 
no  more, — they  went  quite  out  of  her  sight,  and 
she  was  afraid  to  follow,  and  she  stood  and  cried 
till  she  could  cry  no  more,  and  then  she  sat  down, 
and  she  could  not  recollect  anything  else  till  she 
found  herself  in  that  room,  and  sitting  on  Mrs. 
Grenville's  lap. 

Mrs.  Grenville's  first  thought  was  for  the  unfortu- 
nate aunt,  and  the  anxiety  she  must  be  enduring. 
Finding  from  Mr.  Fortescue  that  young  Danvers 
might  now  be  safely  moved,  she  proposed  to  her 
husband  that  she  should  at  once  take  the  children 
home,  and  return  and  call  for  the  boys  and  himself, 
Mr.  Fortescue  kindly  promising  to  accompany  her, 
and  see  that  his  patient  was  properly  cared  for.  As 
to  the  farmer,  he  scouted  all  idea  of  any  sort  of 
remuneration, — he  was  only  too  glad  to  have  had  the 
opportunity  of  doing  a  kind  act ;  and  as  to  what  he 
had  done  for  the  young  squire  there,  he  said,  when 
he  again  shook  his  hand  heartily  at  parting : '  I  hold 
it  not  only  a  pleasure,  but  an  honour,  to  have  shown 
him  hospitality.  We  want  more  of  such  young  chaps 
among  us, — fellows  who  have  not  only  the  heart  to 
do  a  bold  deed,  but  the  modesty  not  afterwards  to 


196 


The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 


brag  about  it.     I  wish  you  joy,  sir,  of  your  son,  and 
long  life  to  you  both/ 

Oh,  how  happy  Ernest  felt  as  he  caught  his 
mother's  proud,  fond  glance !  and  in  his  inward  soul 
he  thanked  God,  who  had  given  him  power  to  do 
the  deed. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Opening  of  the  Manchester  and  Liverpool  line— The  Birmingham  line 
— Difficulties  overcome  by  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson1 — Anecdotes  of 
Mr.  George  Stephenson  in  later  life. 

^ATURALLY  enough,  the  boys  could  think 
and  talk  of  but  little  else  than  their  ad- 
venture, and  Mrs.  Grenville  promised  that, 
if  the  next  day  was  fine,  they  should  ride 
over  to  Helmstead  directly  after  breakfast,  and  in- 
quire how  young  Danvers  was  getting  on.  Almost 
before  it  was  light,  Ernest  and  Charles  were  up  and 
examining  the  state  of  the  weather.  They  might  as 
well  have  stayed  in  bed,  for,  had  they  listened,  they 
would  have  heard  the  wind  howling,  and  the  rain 
beating  heavily  against  the  windows.  Oh  what  a 
dull,  leaden  sky, — not  a  break  to  be  seen  all  round 
the  horizon !  There  was  but  one  comfort, — it  was 
pouring  so  violently,  surely  it  could  not  last.  Why, 
what  had  bewitched  the  weather  ?  Hour  followed 
hour,  and  still  steadily,  incessantly,  drip,  drip,  drip, 
fell  the  rain. 

1  See  Smiles'  Lift  of  Stephenson,  pp.  298-444. 


198  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  Now,  Aunt  Helen,  is  not  this  enough  to  try  any 
one's  temper?'  exclaimed  Charles,  as,  breakfast 
over,  he  was  standing  at  the  window,  vainly  en- 
deavouring to  persuade  himself  and  others  that  the 
weather  was  certainly  taking  up.  '  This  rain  is  really 
quite  unbearable/ 

'  It  is  very  disappointing,  certainly.' 

'Oh  Aunt-  Helen,  it  is  much  more  than  that/ 
replied  Charles,  somewhat  provoked  at  the  quiet 
tone  in  which  Mrs.  Grenville  spoke ;  '  it  is  utterly 
unendurable, — not  but  that  I  think  if  we  were  to  put 
on  our  mackintoshes,  and  ride  very  fast,  we  should 
not  come  to  any  harm.  It  does  look  a  little  bit 
clearer.  Look  here,  Ernest,  do  you  not  see  some- 
thing like  blue  sky  ? ' 

It  required  more  imagination  than  Ernest  pos- 
sessed to  find  it  out,  and  Mrs.  Grenville  entirely 
objected  to  their  going  out  in  such  heavy  rain, 
even  with  the  utmost  protection  that  mackintoshes 
could  give. 

'  And  after  putting  Mr.  Hervey  off,  and  all/  said 
Charles  ;  '  it  is  too  annoying/ 

'  Why,  Charles/  replied  his  aunt,  smiling,  '  how 
long  have  you  felt  it  an  annoyance  to  be  excused 
doing  "  that  horrid  Latin  and  Greek,  or  that  wretched 
stuff  Algebra,  that  I  can  make  nothing  of  ?"' 

'Aunt  Helen!' 

'Well,  my  love,  that  seems  to  be  your  present 
grievance/ 


Charles  Discontented.  199 

'No  ;  now,  Aunt  Helen,  you  know  it  is  not  that/ 

'  Is  it  not  ?  It  seemed  so.  I  am  afraid  it  will  not 
clear  up  yet/  added  Mrs.  Grenville,  '  if  that  is  what 
you  are  vexed  about ;  and  losing  your  temper  will 
not  mend  the  matter.  It  will  only  make  yourself 
and  every  one  about  you  as  miserable  as  the  weather. 
Either  amuse  yourselves  in  the  study,  or,  if  you  like  it 
better,  I  will  tell  you  how  Mr.  Stephenson  followed 
up  his  successful  experiment  with  the  "  Rocket." ' 

'  Oh  do,  mamma,  if  you  can  spare  the  time ;  that 
is  what  we  shall  like  best/  exclaimed  Ernest  and 
Arthur,  whilst  Charles  took  his  drawing,  and  sat 
playing  with  his  pencil,  looking  very  glum,  and  not 
saying  a  word. 

'Was  the  railroad  finished,  mamma/  inquired 
Ernest,  '  at  the  time  when  the  engine  race  came 
off?' 

'  No,  not  quite.  As  soon  as  a  portion  of  the  line 
was  ready  for  the  experiment,  the  directors  had 
wished  that  it  should  be  tried,  as  of  course  their 
plans  for  the  future  depended  mainly  on  the  result. 
The  success  of  the  "Rocket"  had  been  so  un- 
questionable, that  the  company  decided  instantly 
that  the  line  should  be  worked  entirely  by  the  loco- 
motive, and  orders  were  given  to  Mr.  Stephenson 
to  build  engines  and  carriages  with  as  little  delay 
as  possible.  At  length  all  was  ready,  and  the  i$th 
of  September  1830  was  fixed  upon  for  the  public 
opening  of  the  line ;  and,  to  add  to  the  importance 


2oo  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

of  the  occasion,  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who  was 
then  Prime  Minister,  with  several  members  of  his 
Government,  promised  to  come  down  to  Liverpool 
to  be  present  at  the  ceremony.  Some  hundreds  of 
guests  were  invited,  and  a  grand  procession  was  to 
start  from  Liverpool  ;  all  the  engines  of  the  line 
being  put  into  requisition,  each  with  its  appointed 
number  of  carriages.  The  "  Northumbrian,"  which 
was  to  draw  the  train  prepared  for  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington and  his  distinguished  party,  was  to  be  driven 
by  Mr.  Stephenson  himself,  whilst  the  "  Phoenix " 
was  to  follow  immediately  afterwards,  under  the 
guidance  of  his  son.  Nothing  could  be  better  than 
all  the  arrangements,  nothing  more  auspicious  than 
the  start,  as  amidst  the  cheers  of  the  assembled 
thousands  the  train  glided  out  of  the  station,  and 
sped  along  at  the  rate  of  four-and-twenty  miles  an 
hour. 

'  Had  they  only  continued  their  journey  direct  ty> 
Manchester,  all  would  have  been  well.  Unhappily 
it  had  been  arranged  that  the  train  should  stop  at 
Parkside,  midway  between  Liverpool  and  that  town. 
Here  it  was  to  be  drawn  up  on  one  side,  and  the 
locomotives  were  to  pass  by  in  grand  procession, 
that  the  Duke  and  his  party  might  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  their  extraordinary  power.  Amongst 
the  members  of  the  Government  was  a  Mr.  Huskis- 
son,  a  very  clever  man,  who  from  the  first  had  taken 
a  great  interest  in  the  success  of  the  locomotive,  and 


The  First  Railway  Accident.          201 

had  now  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  direc- 
tors to  be  present  at  this  first  great  public  testimony 
to  its  success. 

'  On  the  arrival  of  the  train  at  Parkside,  he  had 
got  out  of  his  carriage,  wishing  to  speak  to  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  who  was  in  another  compartment. 
Hardly,  however,  had  he  reached  the  carnage  win- 
dow, when  a  loud  cry  was  raised  : 

'  "  Take  care,  take  care !  get  in,  get  in !  the  engine 
is  coming  ! " 

'  Looking  hastily  round,  Mr.  Huskisson  perceived 
that  the  warning  was  only  just  in  time,  for  that  the 
"  Rocket"  was  approaching  at  a  rapid  pace.  People 
were  not  then  so.  much  accustomed  to  railway  tra- 
velling as  they  are  now,  and  the  strongest  nerves 
gave  way  at  such  unusual  sights  and  sounds.  Mr. 
Huskisson  turned  hastily  round,  hoping  to  regain 
his  carriage  before  the  engine  could  come  by.  Alas  ! 
in  his  hurry  and  confusion  his  foot  slipped  ;  the 
"  Rocket"  dashed  by,  throwing  him  to  the  ground, 
and  crushing  his  leg  to  pieces.  It  was  all  so  instan- 
taneous, that  not  till  the  mischief  was  done  were 
people  even  aware  that  the  accident  had  occurred. 
Then,  however,  the  panic  and  dismay  were  universal. 
Mr.  Huskisson  was  lifted  from  the  ground  still  alive, 
but  in  a  dying  state  ;  and  in  five-and-twenty  minutes, 
thanks  to  the  power  of  the  "  Northumbrian,"  he  had 
been  carried  back  fifteen  miles,  and  placed  within 
reach  of  the  best  medical  advice  the  neighbourhood 


2O2     ,         The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

could  afford.  But  it  was  all  of  no  use.  Poor  Mr. 
Huskisson  sank  rapidly ;  and  before  night  he  had 
breathed  his  last.  I  cannot  give  you  any  idea  of 
the  sensation  excited  by  the  news  of  this  sad  and 
sudden  death.  One  of  my  own  earliest  recollections 
is  seeing  my  father's  look  of  grief  as  he  came  into 
the  drawing-room,  and  told  my  mother,  "Huskis- 
son is  killed  ! "  I  remember  listening  with  a  sort  of 
hushed,  breathless  awe  to  his  account  of  the  acci- 
dent. People  had  been  so  building  on  the  wonders 
that  this  new  steam  power  was  to  perform,  the  rail- 
road had  so  excited  their  imagination  as  to  the 
changes  it  was  to  effect,  that  Mr.  Huskisson's  death 
seemed  a  sort  of  national  calamity — rekindling  fears 
that  had  been  nearly  allayed,  renewing  the  doubts 
of  the  scrupulous,  and  once  again  lending  weight  to 
the  arguments  of  the  objectors  ;  and  it  was  not  until 
the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  line  had  been  for 
some  time  working  steadily,  and  without  the  recur- 
rence of  any  similar  accident,  that  the  minds  of  the 
people  became  tranquillized,  and  they  could  be  per- 
suaded to  think  favourably  of  the  construction  of 
the  new  railroad  which  was  now  being  planned  be- 
tween London  and  Liverpool 

'  This  was  a  much  more  formidable  undertaking, 
not  only  from  its  great  length,  but  from  the  very 
difficult  nature  of  the  ground  over  which  the  line 
must  pass ;  and  all  these  difficulties  were  enhanced 
tenfold  by  the  vexatious  and  ridiculous  opposition 


Short-sighted  Opposition.  203 

that  was  offered,  not  only  by  the  landowners,  but  by 
the  corporations  of  many  of  the  great  towns  near 
which  it  was  proposed  to  bring  the  railway.  Never 
was  a  better  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  persons 
almost  invariably  outwit  themselves  when  they  yield 
up  their  judgments  to  their  passions  and  their  pre- 
judices. 

'  The  opponents  of  the  bill  united,  and  organized 
so  powerful  an  opposition,  that  they  carried  their 
point ;  and  the  railway  company,  abandoning  their 
original  plan,  determined  on  a  new  survey,  avoiding 
as  much  as  possible  the  estates  and  towns  of  their 
opponents.  And  what  was  the  result  ?  Not  twenty 
years  had  passed  away  before  railroads  had  so 
largely  increased  the  value  of  all  property  in  their 
vicinity,  that  those  very  landholders  would  gladly 
have  given  twice  the  amount  they  had  spent  in 
opposing  the  bill,  to  bring  the  railway  near  their 
estates  ;  whilst  the  towns  were  actually  obliged  to 
construct  railways  at  their  own  expense,  or  else  to 
forfeit  all  hopes  of  being  able  to  compete  with  the 
flood-tide  of  commercial  prosperity  which  poured  in 
upon  those  places  whose  communities  had  been  more 
clear-sighted  than  themselves. 

'  In  spite,  however,  of  their  change  of  plan,  the 
London  and  Birmingham  Company  found  their 
difficulties  but  little  lessened  ;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  indomitable  energy  of  Mr.  Robert  Stephen- 
son,  who  had  been  appointed  their  engineer,  it  is 


2O4  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

possible  they  might  never  have  carried  their  point 
at  all.  Twenty  times  did  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson 
walk  over  the  whole  ground  between  London  and 
Birmingham  to  ascertain  the  exact  direction  the 
line  should  take,  and  all  the  time  carrying  out  his 
survey  under  circumstances  which,  if  they  had  not 
been  so  vexatious,  would  have  been  laughably 
absurd.  He  and  his  companions  had  to  watch  their 
opportunities  for  taking  levels,  etc.,  just  as  if  they 
had  been  a  gang  of  thieves,  instead  of  a  company  of 
the  most  highly  educated  and  scientific  men  in  Eng- 
land. Now  they  watched  a  proprietor  off  his  estate, 
and  then  dodged  round  to  the  necessary  point ;  now 
they  waited  till  the  evening  had  closed  in,  and  then, 
by  the  aid  of  dark  lanterns,  made  a  rapid  midnight 
raid  across  the  property.  Clergymen  preached 
against  them,  magistrates  denounced  them,  game- 
keepers and  bailiffs  tried  in  vain  to  capture  them. 
They  bore  a  charmed  life ;  and  in  spite  of  all  that 
could  be  done  to  prevent  it,  the  survey  was  made, 
and  the  estimates  of  expense  calculated  ;  and  in  the 
session  of  1832  a  bill  was  brought  into  Parliament, 
praying  for  leave  to  construct  the  railway. 

<  Mr.  Stephenson  had  brought  the  bill  to  the 
House  of  Commons  ;  but  there,  unfortunately,  he 
was  obliged  to  leave  it,  and  the  directors  of  the 
railway  soon  saw  they  could  not  carry  their  measure 
without  bribing  their  opponents.  It  was  a  great 
shame,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it ;  and  the 


Progress  of  the  Railway  Works.       205 

system  of  compensation  thus  introduced  led  subse- 
quently to  the  most  grievous  and  dishonest  extor- 
tion. In  this  instance  it  cost  the  company  ^750,000 
to  buy  up  land  whose  value  was  really  about 
£2 50,000.  This  compromise,  such  as  it  was,  being 
at  last  effected,  the  railway  was  commenced  ;  and 
all  went  on  smoothly  enough,  until  the  works  ap- 
proached a  high  ridge  of  land  near  Rugby,  through 
which  it  had  been  found  necessary  to  tunnel.  The 
experiments  requisite  for  testing  the  nature  of  the 
soil  had  been  carefully  made ;  and  although,  in  the 
then  infancy  of  railroad  engineering,  so  long  a  tunnel 
as  that  which  was  now  to  be  formed  was  known  to 
be  a  very  arduous  undertaking,  yet,  as  no  one  ex- 
pected to  meet  with  any  insuperable  difficulties,  a 
contract  was  readily  enough  taken  by  a  certain 
man,  to  get  it  done  by  a  given  time,  and  at  a  given 
price.' 

'  Oh,  but,  mamma,  I  thought  you  said  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson  was  making  the  railway :  why  did  not  he 
do  it  himself  ? ' 

'He  was  engaged  in  the  general  superintendence 
of  the  whole  line,  my  love ;  but  the  work  would  not 
have  gone  on  sufficiently  quickly,  if  it  could  only 
have  been  continued  just  where  he  himself  was  over- 
looking. His  plan  was,  to  give  out  different  portions 
of  the  line  to  different  contractors,  who  each  super- 
intended a  gang  of  navvies  of  their  own,  each  work- 
ing on  till  he  met  his  neighbour's  allotment ;  and  of 


206  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

course  the  construction  of  the  whole  line  was  thus 
wonderfully  expedited,  whilst  Mr.  Robert  Stephen- 
son  was  at  liberty  to  go  up  and  down  the  line  just 
exactly  as  he  pleased,  and  see  that  his  directions 
were  being  carefully  and  accurately  followed.  But 
although  he  himself  had  superintended  the  boring 
of  the  Kilsby  tunnel,  he  was  quite  as  unprepared  as 
the  unfortunate  contractor  to  find  that,  a  short  time 
after  the  works  were  in  full  progress,  the  men 
came  suddenly  on  an  immense  quicksand,  which 
threatened  to  put  an  entire  stop  to  the  undertaking. 
Here  was  a  blow.  What  was  to  be  done  now  ?  The 
tunnel  was  flooded  ;  the  water  seemed  inexhaustible. 
The  more  they  pumped,  the  more  they  might  pump 
Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  was  summoned  hastily  to 
the  rescue.  Engines  were  constructed,  and  set  to 
work  incessantly  ;  wells  were  sunk  ;  springs  were 
drained ;  but  still  on,  on,  on  flowed  the  water,  ap- 
parently as  inexhaustible  as  ever.  The  directors 
looked  grave.  That  terrible  quicksand  had  already 
engulfed  thousands  of  pounds ;  and  who  might  say 
how  many  thousands  more  might  not  follow,  and 
yet  the  sacrifice  be  all  in  vain  ?  A  general  meeting 
of  the  directors  was  called.  It  was  very  unfortunate 
— most  provoking  ;  but  there  was  but  one  course 
left,  they  said :  the  works  must  be  abandoned,  and 
the  tunnel  left  to  its  fate/ 

'Oh  mamma!'  exclaimed  Arthur  eagerly,  'I  am 
sure   Mr.    Robert   Stephenson  will   never   consent. 


Clearing  Kilsby  Tunnel  of  Water.      207 

He  will  remember  the  mine  at  Killingworth  years 
ago.  And  Chat  Moss,  mamma,  he  will  surely  re- 
member that ! ' 

'Yes,'  added  Ernest;  'and  I  am  very  much  mis- 
taken if  he  does  not  tell  the  directors  that  he  is 
quite  of  their  opinion  that  there  is  only  one  course 
left ;  but  that  that  is  to  persevere/ 

Mrs.  Grenville  smiled,  as  she  continued  :  '  You 
have  formed  a  very  right  estimate  of  his  character. 
He  begged  and  entreated  the  directors  not  to  come 
to  so  hasty  a  decision.  If  they  would  only  give  him 
time,  he  felt  certain  of  ultimate  success.  He  asked 
but  for  one  fortnight  more.  If,  at  the  expiration 
of  that  period,  he  had  not  made  such  progress  as 
would  justify  him  in  continuing  the  works,  then  he 
promised  to  abandon  them,  however  much  he  him- 
self might  regret  it,  and  to  submit  implicitly  to  the 
decision  of  the  directors.  His  hopeful  tone  inspired 
them  with  new  confidence.  Besides,  when  had  either 
Stephenson  ever  pledged  himself  to  accomplish  any 
work,  and  been  found  wanting  in  the  performance  ? 
If  he  still  thought  it  possible  to  drain  the  quick- 
sand, by  all  means  let  him  go  on :  they  were  ready 
to  provide  him  with  every  assistance  he  might  re- 
quire. Thus,  armed  with  new  powers,  Stephenson 
set  to  work,  if  possible,  with  greater  energy  than 
before, — now  improving  the  engines  already  at 
work,  now  inventing  new  ones  to  meet  fresh  diffi- 
culties as  they  arose.  1250  men,  200  horses,  and 


208  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

thirteen  engines  worked  so  heartily  in  the  cause, 
that  at  the  expiration  of  the  allotted  time  of  trial 
the  water  in  the  tunnel  had  so  perceptibly  decreased, 
that  the  directors  were  fully  convinced  that  Mr. 
Robert  Stephenson  was  right,  and  with  their  cordial 
permission  the  work  was  carried  on,  and  at  the  end 
of  eight  months  brought  happily  to  an  end.  It  will 
give  you  some  notion  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
undertaking,  when  I  tell  you  that  during  the  whole 
of  that  time  1800  gallons  of  water  had  been  raised 
every  minute,  and  conducted  away  to  other  and 
safe  channels  of  escape.' 

'There,  Arthur,  there  is  a  sum  after  your  very 
heart!'  exclaimed  Charles,  laughing.  'Now  tell 
us  how  many  gallons  were  pumped  up  alto- 
gether?' 

'  I  cannot  tell  you  all  in  a  moment/  replied  Arthur 
gravely. 

'  I  should  think  not,  indeed/  replied  Mrs.  Gren- 
ville,  amused  at  his  matter-of-fact  way  of  answering 
Charles's  question.  'I  do  not  suppose  any  one 
living  but  Mr.  Bidder  could  answer  such  a  question 
off-hand.' 

'  Mr.  Bidder.  Who  is  he,  Aunt  Helen  ?'  inquired 
Charles. 

'  The  most  extraordinary  calculator  who  has  per- 
haps ever  existed.  He  was  a  great  friend  of  Mr. 
Stephenson's,  and  quite  as  wonderful  a  man  as  him- 
self, though  in  a  different  way.' 


Father  and  Son.  209 

'Oh  mamma,  do  tell  us  about  him,  then/  said 
Arthur. 

'  I  cannot  just  at  this  moment ;  it  would  take  us 
too  far  away  from  Mr.  Stephenson,  whom  we  have 
rather  deserted,  I  think,  whilst  we  have  been  follow- 
ing the  adventures  of  his  son.  But  it  is  so  very 
difficult  to  speak  of  the  one  without  alluding  to  the 
other.  Their  interests  were  so  entirely  in  common  ; 
they  worked  so  heartily  together ;  the  success  of 
the  one  was  so  essential  to  the  happiness  of  the 
other,  that  I  can  hardly  give  you  a  clear  idea  of 
what  were  the  pursuits  and  pleasures  of  Mr. 
Stephenson's  later  life,  without  constantly  alluding 
to  his  son,  whose  increasing  fame  and  prosperity 
were  so  closely  connected  with  his  own.  Finding 
how  perfectly  well  able  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  was 
to  cope  with  difficulties,  even  such  as  those  which 
had  met  him  in  the  construction  of  the  Kilsby 
tunnel,  Mr.  Stephenson  thought  himself  quite  at 
liberty  to  devote  his  own  more  immediate  attention 
to  the  formation  of  the  new  railways  which  were 
now  required  in  the  north,  his  native  country.  The 
friends  and  associates  of  his  own  early  days  had 
greater  charms  for  him  than  the  more  refined  and 
luxurious  people  of  the  south,  and  he  was  at  all 
times  glad  to  go  back  again  to  his  old  haunts, 
rejoicing  in  being  made  instrumental  in  promoting 
the  prosperity  and  opening  up  the  resources  of  that 
northern  land  which  he  loved  so  dearly. 

o 


2 1  o  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'  It  was  fortunate  for  him  that  his  naturally  fine 
constitution  had  been  strengthened  by  the  athletic 
pursuits  he  had  been  so  fond  of  when  a  young  man, 
and  by  the  habits  of  self-denial  and  temperance  he 
had  then  so  steadily  practised.  His  health  could 
never  otherwise  have  borne  up  against  the  accumu- 
lation of  work  he  was  now  called  upon  to  perform. 
It  was  not  only  that  his  opinion  was  sought  for  by 
the  most  scientific  men  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent, in  all  matters  connected  with  railroads  or 
engineering, — and  this  of  itself  would  have  involved 
almost  more  labour  than  any  one  man  could  have 
accomplished, — but,  besides  all  this,  he  was  inces- 
santly at  work,  taking  surveys,  making  levels,  draw- 
ing plans,  and  superintending  the  actual  formation 
of  the  different  lines  committed  to  his  care,  taking 
what  little  sleep  he  allowed  himself  whilst  he  tra- 
velled from  place  to  place.  His  secretaries  and 
clerks  were  in  despair.  How  was  it  possible  to 
keep  pace  with  a  man  whose  body  never  wanted 
rest,  and  whose  brain  never  tired  ? 

'  It  will  give  you  some  idea  of  his  extraordinary 
powers  of  endurance,  when  I  tell  you  that  Mr. 
Smiles  says  that,  during  three  years  when  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson  was  very  busily  employed  in  constructing 
different  lines,  in  addition  to  all  the  head-work  that 
was  incessantly  required  of  him,  he  actually  tra- 
velled in  his  carriage  over  more  than  20,000  miles 
of  country,  whilst  superintending  the  progress  of 


Stephensoris  Powers  of  Endurance.     2 1 1 

the  different  works.  Whatever  he  had  undertaken 
to  do,  that  he  liked  to  see  done  under  his  own  eye. 

'  He  did  not  care  what  fatigue  or  trouble  he  him- 
self endured  ;  but  then  he  expected  everybody  to 
be  as  active  and  energetic  as  he  was  himself,  and 
this  occasionally  led  to  disappointment.  He  used 
to  say  "he  found  it  an  easy  thing  to  engineer 
matter ;  the  difficulty  was  to  engineer  men.'*  This, 
very  likely,  was  the  truth ;  but  then  I  think  he  was 
a  little  too  apt  to  forget  that,  though  he  could  find 
plenty  of  helpers,  it  was  somewhat  more  difficult  to 
meet  with  a  succession  of  Stephensons. 

'  No  one,  however,  was  more  prompt  than  himself 
to  recognise  merit  in  another ;  and  wherever  he  saw 
intelligence  and  energy  and  perseverance  —  quali- 
ties which  he  valued  far  above  what  is  generally 
called  genius — he  always  used  his  utmost  endeavours 
to  bring  their  possessor  into  notice ;  or,  to  use  his 
own  words,  "  to  make  a  man  of  him."  And  many 
a  story  is  told  of  the  assistance  thus  rendered  to 
those  in  the  humbler  spheres  of  life,  and  who  were 
enabled  by  his  means,  not  only  to  achieve  fame  and 
fortune  for  themselves,  but  to  become  useful  and 
valuable  members  of  society.  I  was  once  talking 
on  this  subject  to  a  very  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Stephenson's.  "  Yes,"  he  said  ;  "  it  is  perfectly  true. 
He  was  always  ready  to  help,  whenever  he  met 
with  a  man  of  good  abilities,  united  to  modesty 
and  diffidence  of  manner ;  but  anything  of  foppery 


212  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

or  presumption  or  ignorance  was  intolerable  to  Mr. 
Stephenson.  He  saw  through  it  in  a  moment,  and 
woe  betide  the  unfortunate  offender !  If  indeed  the 
man  was  perfectly  wrapped  up  in  his  self-esteem, 
he  would  leave  him  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  igno- 
rance ;  but  if  he  thought  he  saw  a  hope  of  stirring 
him  up  to  better  things,  the  pretender  would  sud- 
denly find  himself  pulled  up  in  the  middle  of  some 
presumptuous  statement,  by  a  calm,  commanding 
*  Sir,  you  know  nothing  whatever  of  what  you  are 
saying/  And  he  would  be  a  bold  man  indeed  who, 
once  exposed  to  such  a  rebuke  from  George  Ste- 
phenson, would  run  the  risk  of  undergoing  the  ordeal 
a  second  time." 

'  The  love  of  truth  was  one  of  his  most  distinguish- 
ing characteristics.  He  detected  in  a  moment  the 
slightest  deviation  from  strict  accuracy,  and  instantly 
exposed  it.  On  one  occasion,  when  travelling,  he 
happened  to  pass  by  a  field  in  which  some  remark- 
ably fine  cattle  were  grazing.  Fond  as  he  was  of 
all  animals,  they  instantly  attracted  his  attention, 
but  he  did  not  happen  to  know  of  what  breed  they 
were. 

'  "  Do  you  know  ?"  he  said,  turning  to  the  gentle- 
man who  was  travelling  with  him. 

'  His  companion  knew  no  more  than  himself,  but 
not  liking  to  confess  his  ignorance,  he  instantly 
hazarded  a  guess. 

'  Stephenson  saw  the  state  of  the  case  in  a  mo- 


His  Love  of  Tmth.  2 1 3 

ment,  and  turning  round  instantly,  he  looked  him 
steadily  in  the  face,  saying,  good-humouredly  but 
firmly,  "You  are  only  guessing.  Why  could  you 
not  say  at  once  that  you  know  nothing  whatever 
about  the  matter?" 

'  On  another  occasion  he  was  paying  a  visit  to 
Exeter  Change,  for  the  sake  of  seeing  the  wild 
beasts  which  at  that  time  were  kept  there.  On 
pointing  out  a  particular  lion,  the  keeper  boasted 
of  his  entire  control  over  the  animal. 

'  "  I  can  do  just  what  I  please  with  it,"  he  said. 
"  It  obeys  and  follows  me  like  a  dog." 

'"Does  it?"  replied  Mr.  Stephenson.  "Then 
have  it  out  immediately.  I  should  like  to  see  such 
a  docile  beast." 

'  The  man,  who  was  too  wise  to  accept  the  chal- 
lenge, made  some  lame  excuse  for  not  complying 
with  Mr.  Stephenson's  request,  and  had  to  submit 
as  best  he  could  to  the  stern  rebuke  with  which 
his  vain  and  presumptuous  boasting  was  at  once 
reproved. 

'  It  was  not  only,  however,  when  he  was  in  the 
society  of  his  equals  that  he  was  thus  decided  and 
uncompromising.  Truth  was  his  object,  and  it  was 
no  matter  what  was  the  station  or  the  fame  or  the 
talents  of  a  man  who  advanced  what  he  thought 
to  be  a  fallacy.  Without  an  instant's  hesitation  he 
exposed  it,  whether  the  man  was  a  peer  or  a  pea- 
sant. One  curious  story  is  told  illustrating  this 


214  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

point.  At  a  great  meeting  held  at  the  opening  of 
a  railway  which  Mr.  Stephenson  had  constructed, 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  men  in  England  pro- 
posed the  engineer's  health,  in  a  speech  as  remark- 
able for  its  varied  information  as  for  the  graceful 
tribute  it  paid  to  Mr.  Stephenson's  talent  and  suc- 
cess. Unfortunately,  in  referring  to  the  line  just 
opened,  the  speaker  compared  the  work  to  one 
of  those  gigantic  undertakings  begun  and  carried 
on  so  successfully  by  the  Roman  conquerors  of 
England, — works  which,  for  hundreds  of  years, 
have  excited  the  admiration  of  all  succeeding  gene- 
rations. 

'As  he  listened,  Mr.  Stephenson  became  evi- 
dently fidgety  and  impatient,  and  no  sooner  was 
the  speech  concluded,  than,  apparently  quite  un- 
heeding the  graceful  tribute  of  praise  to  himself 
with  which  it  had  ended,  he  sprang  up,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  orator,  commenced  his  reply  with  those 
well-known  and  often  much -dreaded  words,  "You 
know  nothing  whatever  about  it ;"  and  then  he 
proceeded  to  point  out  why  the  construction  of 
the  great  old  Roman  roads  could  not  conscien- 
tiously be  compared  to  railway  engineering.  The 
Romans  carried  their  roads  straight  to  a  point,  true 
enough ;  but  in  doing  so,  how  different  was  their 
course?  They  went  over  the  highest  hills;  it  was 
necessary  that  they  should  do  so,  they  wanted  to 
look  after  their  enemies.  They  went  into  secluded 


His  Dislike  of  Praise.  2 1 5 

dales;  they  must  pitch  their  camps,  and  no  one 
knew  better  than  they  where  to  find  the  right  spot. 
"Now,"  he  continued,  "that  is  not  our  plan.  We 
do  not  want  to  go  to  the  top  of  hills,  we  have  got 
no  enemies  to  look  after ;  we  do  not  carry  our  lines 
into  secluded  dales ;  we  want  the  great  cities  and 
commercial  towns,  and  we  choose  the  levels  that 
will  take  us  soonest  and  quickest  to  where  we  want 
to  be." ' 

'Oh  aunt!1  interrupted  Charles  laughingly,  'how 
astounded  the  unfortunate  gentleman  must  have 
been  at  such  a  reply !  And  when  he  flattered  him- 
self he  had  made  such  a  telling  speech,  and  rounded 
off  his  periods  so  splendidly  ! ' 

'Fortunately  for  Mr.  Stephenson,'  replied  Mrs. 
Grenville,  'he  was  a  man  who  could  thoroughly 
appreciate  the  sterling  worth  of  the  great  engineer, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  was  far  more  charmed 
with  his  straightforward  and  manly  statement,  than 
he  would  have  been  with  the  most  graceful  ac- 
knowledgment of  thanks  to  himself.  But  I  told 
you  the  story  to  show  you  how  Mr.  Stephenson 
loved  truth  for  the  truth's  sake,  quite  irrespective 
of  the  prejudices  of  any  society  in  which  he  might 
find  himself.  Occasionally,  however,  this  very  strict- 
ness, admirable  though  it  was,  deprived  him  of  some 
enjoyments.  He  could  not  appreciate  the  charms 
of  imagination  ;  everything  that  gave  him  pleasure 
must  be  real,  practical,  solid.  He  could  not  under- 


2 1 6  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

stand  that  any  rational  being  should  derive  amuse- 
ment from  anything  that  was  fictitious. 

'On  one  occasion  he  had  been  persuaded  by  a 
very  intimate  friend  to  go  with  him  to  the  theatre. 
For  some  little  while  Mr.  Stephenson  sat  looking  at 
the  actors  with  a  puzzled,  distressed  expression  of 
countenance.  At  length,  touching  his  friend's  arm, 
he  said  abruptly,  ".Come  away,  George,  come  away; 
I  cannot  stay  longer,  it  is  all  lies." 

'  With  such  a  character  as  this,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  in  later  life  he  set  himself  strongly  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  mad  spirit  of  speculation  which  led  to 
the  construction  of  railroads  by  means  calculated 
to  entail  ruin  on  hundreds  of  those  concerned  in 
them.  People  are  slow  to  believe  that  they  may 
have  too  much  of  a  good  thing.  Railroads  and  the 
locomotives  had  wrought  such  wonders,  that  it  be- 
came a  very  general  impression  that  nothing  was 
impossible  to  them,  and  that  the  powers  of  the 
engine  might  be  developed  ad  infinitutn.  Because 
some  of  the  great  railways  had  succeeded  so  trium- 
phantly, persons  argued  it  followed  that  there  could 
be  no  such  advantageous  investment  for  money  as 
in  railway  shares.  There  were  plenty  of  acute, 
clever,  unprincipled  men  ready  to  take  advantage 
of  the  popular  delusion.  Railways  were  projected 
to  towns  and  places  where  it  was  quite  impos- 
sible, from  the  very  nature  of  the  country,  that  there 
could  be  any  traffic  which  would  hold  out  any 


The  Railway  Mania.  2 1 7 

reasonable  hope  of  a  profitable  return  for  the 
capital  to  be  expended.  The  most  fascinating  pro- 
spectuses were  issued ;  the  more  alluring,  the  less 
were  they  true.  The  shares  were  eagerly  bought 
up.  Rogues  prospered  and  grew  rich ;  the  simple 
and  honest  were  duped  and  ruined.  Against  all 
such  malpractices  Mr.  Stephenson  steadily  set  his 
face.  If  he  was  asked  to  take  the  superintendence 
of  any  new  line,  his  first  care  was  to  ascertain 
whether  it  was  really  wanted,  and  whether,  when 
it  was  made,  there  was  any  reasonable  hope  of  its 
remunerating  the  shareholders.  If  he  thought  that 
this  was  not  the  case,  nothing  would  induce  him  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  it.  In  the  same  man- 
ner, when  he  was  requested  to  make  the  estimates 
for  a  new  line,  he  invariably  did  so  at  what,  to 
the  best  of  his  judgment,  appeared  to  him  the 
amount  which  the  construction  of  the  railroad 
would  cost.  These  estimates  were,  consequently, 
frequently  very  much  larger  than  those  which  the 
original  proposers  of  the  line  had  led  the  unwary 
shareholders  to  expect;  and  they  would  do  their 
best  to  make  Mr.  Stephenson  reconsider  his  cal- 
culations, urging  the  impolicy  of  raising  so  large 
a  sum  at  the  outset.  But  Mr.  Stephenson  held 
that  "  honesty  at  all  times  was  the  best  policy ; 
he  felt  certain  that  the  works  could  not  be  well 
executed  for  a  sum  less  than  the  one  he  had 
named.  If  they  did  not  like  it,"  he  said,  "they 


2 1 8  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

could  seek  an  engineer  elsewhere ;  he  would  be  no 
party  to  a  fraud  by  which  he  was  to  be  benefited  and 
the  company  ruined.  He  could  not  prevent  other 
men  being  rogues,  but  at  least  the  taint  of  dishonour- 
able conduct  should  never  attach  to  his  own  name." 

'  It  was  the  same  honourable,  truthful  spirit  that 
made  Mr.  Stephenson  oppose  all  the  wild  specula- 
tions that  were  now  being  broached  about  the  pos- 
sibility of  employing  atmospheric  pressure  as  a 
substitute  for  locomotives,  by  which  instrumentality 
we  were  to  fly  through  the  air  as  readily  as  birds, 
and  be  propelled  over  the  ground  with  a  rapidity 
hitherto  unknown.  When  our  own  South  Devon 
line  was  projected,  Mr.  Stephenson  said  from  the 
first  it  would  not  do :  it  was  a  very  pretty,  ingenious 
toy,  but  for  a  great  working  line  of  road,  a  medium 
of  traffic,  it  was  wholly  unfitted ;  it  was  too  costly 
in  its  mechanism.  Unfortunately,  people  thought 
that  his  advice  was  only  dictated  by  his  jealousy 
for  the  well-being  of  his  own  beloved  locomotive  : 
they  told  him  so,  adding,  "  Why,  the  Council  of  the 
Institute  of  Civil  Engineers  has  pronounced  in  favour 
of  this  new  atmospheric  line  :  they  must  be  right" 

' "  It  won't  do,"  was  Mr.  Stephenson's  quiet  re- 
joinder ;  "  it  will  never  pay." 

'  A  very  few  years  passed  away  before  the  unfor- 
tunate shareholders  of  the  South  Devon  line  had 
cause  to  repent  deeply  that  they  had  not  listened  to 
the  words  of  the  shrewd,  straightforward  engineer 


The  Atmospheric  Railway.  219 

when  he  had  sought  to  warn  them  from  embarking 
in  an  enterprise  which  could  only  end  in  disappoint- 
ment The  atmospheric  tubes  half  ruined  the  com- 
pany, and  then  they  were  removed,  and  the  loco- 
motives substituted  in  their  place.  But  even  to  this 
day  we  rue  the  experiment ;  for  the  peculiar  con- 
struction of  the  line,  the  gradients  being  so  much 
steeper  than  in  those  built  originally  for  the  use  of 
the  locomotives,  is  the  cause  of  the  constant  delays 
and  stoppages  which  make  our  South  Devon  branch 
a  very  by-word  amongst  railways ;  and  often  when 
I  have  been  to  fetch  papa  from  the  station,  I  have 
been  very  painfully  reminded  of  Mr.  Stephenson's 
prophecy,  "It  won't  do  ;  wait  a  little  and  you  will 
see  that  I  am  right."  I  have  waited  so  long  and  so 
often,  that  I  at  least  am  perfectly  convinced  of  the 
fact. 

'  But  perhaps  one  of  the  most  curious  positions 
in  which  Mr.  Stephenson  was  placed  by  the  wild 
speculations  of  others,  was  when  he  found  himself 
called  upon  to  check  their  daring  assertions  that 
there  was  no  limit  to  the  speed  which  the  locomo- 
tive might  attain.  That  might  be  all  very  true, — he 
himself  had  told  them  so  long  ago,  and  had  been 
laughed  at  as  a  fool  and  a  madman  for  so  saying. 
But  though  an  engine  might  be  constructed  with 
such  powers,  it  did  not  follow  that  good  judgment 
or  sound  sense  would  approve  of  their  being  brought 
into  daily  use.  This  could  serve  no  purpose  but  to  add 


22O  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

greatly  to  the  expense  of  working  the  line  from  the  in- 
creased wear  and  tear,  and  to  court  the  presence  of 
that  very  danger  which  did  riot  exist  as  long  as  people 
would  act  by  the  dictates  of  common  prudence. 
Forty  miles  an  hour  was  surely  fast  enough  for 
those  who  had  once  laughed  at  the  idea  of  travelling 
twelve  :  this  was  a  safe  pace  and  a  remunerative  pace, 
and  both  these  points  ought  to  be  thought  of  and 
secured, — the  one  for  the  sake  of  the  passengers,  and 
the  other  for  the  sake  of  the  company  itself ;  and  to 
neglect  the  interests  of  either,  merely  for  the  sake 
of  astonishing  the  world  and  performing  what  was 
thought  to  be  an  impossibility,  was,  in  his  opinion, 
neither  honest  nor  honourable.  In  spite,  however, 
of  all  that  he  could  say  on  the  subject,  the  rivalry 
then  existing  between  the  principal  engineers,  sup- 
ported on  the  part  of  the  public  by  a  sort  of  craving 
for  the  perpetual  excitement  of  ever-increasing  speed, 
prevented  Mr.  Stephenson's  wise  counsel  from  being 
listened  to  with  the  deference  it  deserved.  Even 
Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  was  carried  away  with  the 
general  enthusiasm  ;  he  could  not  endure  the 
thought  that  any  one's  engines  were  to  surpass  his 
own  :  if  others  increased  their  speed  and  power,  he 
must  perforce  do  likewise.  The  consequence  was, 
that  in  1845  he  turned  out  of  the  Newcastle  manu- 
factory an  engine  which  travelled  forty-five  miles 
in  forty-seven  minutes.  They  have  attained  to 
even  a  greater  speed  since  then,  but  at  that  time 


Increased  Speed  of  the  Locomotive.      2  2 1 

it  seemed  stupendous  ;  and  however  much  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson  might  have  condemned  the  practice  in 
theory,  I  have  no  doubt  that  in  his  heart  he  rejoiced 
at  this  new  achievement  of  his  son/ 

'Aunt  Helen/  exclaimed  Charles,  'do  you  remem- 
ber the  last  time  we  went  up  to  London  ? ' 

'  Yes,  perfectly/ 

'  Did  not  we  go  a  glorious  pace  from  Didcot, 
making  up  for  lost  time  ?  Why,  we  must  have  gone 
sixty  miles  an  hour  then/ 

' 1  should  think  we  did  for  a  short  distance/ 

'  Oh !  I  remember — it  was  such  fun — how  I  did 
like  it ;  only  I  wanted  to  go  just  twice  as  fast ;  and 
that  lady,  aunt,  who  sat  in  the  corner  and  shrieked, 
and  made  such  a  fool  of  herself — oh,  it  was  famous  P 
and  Charles  laughed  heartily  at  the  bare  recollection 
of  his  enjoyment. 

'  You  seem  to  forget  what  was  sport  to  you  was 
pain  to  another/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 

'  But  then,  Aunt  Helen,  it  was  so  foolish  of  her/ 

'All  have  not  your  high  health  and  spirits,  my 
dear  boy/ 

'  Oh !  Aunt  Helen,  what  would  you  have  said  if 
we  had  screamed  ? ' 

'  I  should  have  been  very  annoyed, — for  this  very 
reason,  that  you  would  have  had  no  excuse  whatever 
for  such  absurd  conduct.  But  look,  whilst  we  have 
been  so  busily  engaged  with  Mr.  Stephenson  and  his 
plans,  we  have  quite  forgotten  the  weather ;  and  I 


222  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

think  it  is  really  clearing  up  now.  The  sun  seems 
to  me  to  be  trying  to  break  through  the  clouds.  I 
hardly  think  that  it  rains  at  all.  Run  to  the  win- 
dow and  see/ 

The  boys  were  glad  enough  to  comply  with  this 
request,  and  joyfully  announced  there  was  no  doubt 
that  the  weather  was  gradually  taking  up.  '  The  wind 
has  quite  gone  round,  mamma  ! '  exclaimed  Ernest. 

'  And  there  is  a  large  patch  of  blue  sky/  added 
Charles, — 'real  blue  sky  this  time,  Aunt  Helen,  and 
no  effect  of  my  imagination ;  and  there  is  not  one  drop 
of  rain.  And  look,  there  is  Donny  running  across  the 
lawn  ;  that  is  the  best  sign  of  all.  He  hates  the  wet 
so,  nothing  ever  induces  him  to  go  out  in  the  rain. 
May  we  run  and  order  the  ponies,  Aunt  Helen  ?' 

Hardly  waiting  for  the  permission  to  be  given,  off 
scampered  the  boys  to  get  ready  for  their  ride,  losing 
so  little  time  afterwards  upon  the  road,  that  Charles 
declared  that  the  pace  at  which  they  put  their  ponies 
was  only  to  be  equalled  by  Mr.  Stephenson's  express 
engine.  On  their  arrival  at  Helmstead,  they  found, 
to  their  great  delight,  that  Danvers  was  so  far  re- 
covered as  to  be  allowed  to  see  them  ;  and  his  plea- 
sure at  the  meeting  was  only  to  be  equalled  by  their 
own.  Indeed,  so  mutually  were  they  pleased  with 
each  other,  that  when  the  boys  said  good-bye  to  their 
new  friend,  it  was  with  the  understanding  that  their 
visit  was  to  be  speedily  repeated,  and  a  very  cordial 
desire  on  both  sides  to  cultivate  a  closer  intimacy. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Mr.  George  Stephenson  in  old  age ;  honoured ;  beloved — His  death 
— Conclusion. 

5AMMA,  there  is  only  one  reason/  said 
Arthur,  '  why  I  do  not  like  biography : 
it  always  ends  so  sadly/ 

'  Ends    sadly  ! '     exclaimed    Ernest. 
'  What  do  you  mean,  Arthur  ?  ' 

'  Why,  just  when  you  get  so  fond  of  a  person,  and 
so  interested  in  all  they  are  doing,  then  it  all  comes 
to  an  end,  and  they  die,  and  you  feel  just  as  un- 
happy as  if  you  had  lost  a  friend.' 

'  I  used  to  have  the  same  feeling  very  strongly 
when  I  was  young/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville ;  '  but  I 
do  not  think  it  is  a  right  one  ;  for,  supposing  that 
those  in  whose  earthly  career  we  have  been  deeply 
interested  have  employed  their  talents  to  God's 
glory,  and  for  the  good  of  their  fellow-creatures,  we 
ought  not  to  feel  that  they  are  lost  to  us, — simply 
that  they  are  removed  to  another  and  a  wider  sphere 
of  happiness  and  usefulness,  where  we  may  ourselves 


224  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

look  forward  to  joining  in  their  work.  It  has  often 
struck  me  that  it  may  be  one  source  of  our  happi- 
ness in  heaven,  to  know  that  our  example  whilst  on 
earth  has  drawn  others  to  righteousness  and  to  God. 
If  so,  the  sadness  of  which  you  complain,  Arthur, 
would  at  once  lose  all  its  sting.1 

'  But  then,  mamma,  I  am  so  sorry  that  they  are 
gone  from  amongst  us.  I  always  long  so  to  have 
known  them  myself/ 

'That  is  rather  a  selfish  sorrow,  is  it  not,  my 
love  ? ' 

4  Well,  perhaps  it  is,  mamma/ 

'But,  Arthur/  said  Charles,  'what  put  this  into 
your  head  just  now  ?  ' 

'  I  was  thinking  of  Mr.  Stephenson,  and  how  sorry 
I  should  be  when  mamma  came  to  his  death.  I 
know  it  cannot  be  very  far  off,  for  mamma  has  told 
us  what  happened  in  1845  ;  and  as  he  has  been  dead 
some  years,  he  could  not  have  lived  very  long  after 
that/ 

'He  died  in  1848,'  replied  Mrs.  Grenville. 

'  But  you  have  got  something  more  you  can  tell 
us  about  him,  mamma,  have  you  not?'  inquired 
Ernest. 

'  I  am  afraid  there  is  not  very  much  more  to  tell/ 
replied  Mrs.  Grenville.  '  Prosperity  is  always  more 
or  less  monotonous ;  and  Mr.  Stephenson's  time 
and  thoughts  in  later  life  became  so  absorbed  with 
attending  to  the  various  details  of  his  profession, 


Mr.  Stephenson  goes  to  Belgium.        225 

that  one  day  was  very  like  another  ;  and  I  do  not 
suppose  that  you  would  care  to  hear  of  all  the  dis- 
putes and  squabbles  in  which  he  was  perpetually 
involved,  first  with  one  set  of  parliamentary  agents, 
and  then  with  another,  in  carrying  through  the 
different  railway  bills  for  the  lines  of  which  he  was 
appointed  engineer.  From  about  1840,  however,  Mr. 
Stephenson  gradually  withdrew  from  the  worries  of 
business.  He  needed  rest,  and  determined  to  spend 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  those 
country  pursuits  which  had  been  so  dear  to  him 
even  from  his  childhood.  He  was  always,  however, 
ready  and  delighted  to  give  his  advice  whenever  it 
was  needed  ;  and  not  only  in  England  but  on  the 
Continent  it  was  eagerly  sought,  whenever  any  new 
line  was  projected,  or  any  unforeseen  difficulty  was 
to  be  overcome.  Amongst  those  who  thus  asked 
his  assistance  was  the  King  of  the  Belgians ;  and,  at 
His  Majesty's  invitation,  Mr.  Stephenson  went  over 
to  Belgium  in  1837,  to  give  his  opinion  on  the  rail- 
roads projected  in  that  country.  He  repeated  his 
visit  in  1845,  when  his  opinion  was  again  asked  on 
a  new  line  about  to  be  formed  through  the  Forest  of 
Ardennes  into  the  French  territory.  Mr.  Stephen- 
son  undertook  to  survey  the  ground,  and  entered 
on  the  undertaking  with  as  much  energy  as  if  he 
had  been  still  quite  a  young  man, — going  over  the 
whole  line  himself,  making  his  own  observations, 
and  charming  the  peasantry  of  Belgium  with  the 

P 


226  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

cordiality  and  genial  kindliness  of  his  manner,  just 
as  years  before  he  had  won  the  hearts  of  his  own 
sturdy  Northumbrian  countrymen. 

'  To  Mr.  Stephenson,  the  weeks  which  he  spent  in 
surveying  this  new  line  were  weeks  of  real  enjoy- 
ment. He  liked  the  novelty  of  everything  around 
him,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  being  able  to  study,  at 
his  leisure,  the  aspect  of  a  country  entirely  new  to 
him,  and  to  amuse  himself  with  the  peculiarities  of 
its  population.  On  his  return  to  Brussels,  he  found 
an  invitation  awaiting  him  to  a  grand  banq  uet  to  be 
given  in  his  honour  by  all  the  principal  engineers  in 
that  part  of  the  Continent,  who  were  anxious  to 
take  this  opportunity  of  showing  the  respect  and 
admiration  in  which  they  held  both  his  talents  and 
his  character.  This  was  most  gratifying  to  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson ;  but  a  still  greater  pleasure  was  in  store 
for  him.  Hardly  was  he  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
elegantly  arranged  table,  round  which  were  seated 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  Europe, 
amongst  whom  he  proudly  recognised  his  son,  than 
his  eye  was  caught  by  a  model  in  the  centre  of  the 
table.  He  looked  :  could  it  be  ?  again  he  looked, 
this  time  more  intently.  Yes  ;  there  could  be  no 
doubt  about  it,  and  he  exclaimed  in  joyful  surprise 
to  a  friend  who  was  sitting  by  him,  "  Look,  look, 

P ,  there  is  the  '  Rocket ! '  "      And  so   it  was. 

Placed   upon   a   raised   pedestal,  with  a  wreath  of 
laurel  suspended  over  it,  stood  a  beautiful  and  per- 


Model  of  the  i  Rocket'  227 

feet  model  of  the  engine  which  years-  before  had 
won  for  Mr.  Stephenson  his  present  fame  and 
fortune/ 

'  Oh,  I  am  so  glad  ! '  exclaimed  Arthur.  '  How 
delighted  Mr.  Stephenson  must  have  been !  And 
that  was  the  engine  that  was  thought  nothing  of 
in  England.' 

'  Yes ;  I  am  afraid  we  often  sacrifice  the  courte- 
sies of  life/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville,  'to  our  love  of 
practical  money-making.  We  might  take  a  few 
lessons  with  advantage  on  this  subject  from  our  con- 
tinental neighbours.  They  understand  the  ameni- 
ties of  life  far  better  than  we  do.  We  are  so  apt 
to  think  that  they  are  beneath  the  notice  of  a  grand, 
hard-working,  energetic  people  like  ourselves,  that 
we  talk  of  them  as  if  they  were  something  degrad- 
ing,— all  very  well  for  women  and  fools,  but  quite 
unworthy  the  attention  of  earnest,  intellectual  men. 
But  this  seems  to  me  a  great  mistake :  nothing  that 
softens  the  heart,  calls  forth  the  affections,  or  adds 
to  the  happiness  of  mankind,  ought  to  be  considered 
as  below  the  regard  of  those  who  bear  the  name  of 
Him  who,  beyond  all  who  ever  lived,  sympathized 
with  the  lowliest,  as  well  as  inspired  the  noblest 
affections  of  which  our  nature  is  capable.  And 
besides,  to  take  a  much  lower  ground,  by  neglecting 
these  trifling  courtesies  we  throw  away  numberless 
opportunities  of  giving  pleasure,  and  of  brightening 
up  the  path  of  life ;  and  surely  we  are  not  justified 


228  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

in  doing  this,  when  a  trifling  exertion  of  thought, 
or  a  few  kind  words,  are  all-sufficient  to  attain  the 
object.  The  Belgian  engineers,  at  any  rate,  were 
wholly  successful  in  their  purpose,  for  Mr.  Stephen- 
son  -  used  often  afterwards  to  say  that  he  never  re- 
membered a  pleasanter  or  a  prouder  moment  in  his 
life,  than  when,  in  the  midst  of  the  banqueting  hall 
in  Brussels,  he  suddenly  espied  the  model  of  his  own 
triumphant  locomotive.' 

'  What  a  change,  mamma/  said  Ernest,  ( since  the 
days  when,  as  a  child,  he  made  his  clay  models  at 
Callerton!' 

'Yes;  but  remember  it  was  the  same  character 
which  then  enabled  him  to  continue,  week  by  week, 
working  out  every  new  idea  that  occurred  to  him — 
never  disheartened  by  failure,  never  elated  by  suc- 
cess— which  now  placed  him  amongst  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  Europe,  and  gave  him  that  place 
as  his  own  undisputed  right.  But  prosperity  could 
not  spoil  George  Stephenson.  His  love  of  truth 
would  have  made  him  despise  himself  had  he  pre- 
tended to  be  other  than  exactly  what  he  was.  In 
a  palace,  as  in  a  cottage,  he  was  still  himself,  the 
simple,  unaffected  man  of  genius.  But  though  his 
natural  self-respect  made  him  equally  at  ease, 
whether  in  the  presence  of  royalty  or  amongst  the 
miners,  companions  of  his  early  days,  yet,  when  he 
could  choose,  he  preferred  the  society  of  his  equals 
to  that  of  persons  very  much  raised  above  him  in 


Mr.  Stephenson  at  Tamworik.         229 

rank.  And  it  was  not  until  Sir  Robert  Peel  had 
repeatedly  requested  him  to  pay  him  a  visit,  that  he 
could  be  prevailed  upon  to  stay  even  at  a  house 
where  he  was  sure  of  being  received  with  marked 
distinction,  and  where  he  would  meet  with  those 
who  would  be  congenial  to  him  in  tastes  and 
pursuits. 

'  At  length,  however,  on  Sir  Robert  telling  him  he 
had  invited  a  party  expressly  to  meet  him,  Mr. 
Stephenson  was  induced  to  promise  that  he  would 
make  one  of  the  guests  at  Tamworth.  Mr.  Smiles 
tells  an  amusing  story  of  what  took  place  during 
this  visit.  I  have  heard  the  same  anecdote  from  Mr. 
Robert  Stephenson  myself,  and  it  is  one  curiously 
characteristic  of  his  father.  From  the  want  of  an 
early  classical  education,  Mr.  Stephenson  had  not 
the  power  of  expressing  his  ideas  which  is  generally 
to  be  found  in  men  of  his  great  ability,  especially 
if  they  have  had  the  advantages  of  a  university 
training.  What  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  once  said 
to  me,  in  speaking  of  his  father,  must  have  been 
strictly  true  :  "  He  had  an  instinctive  perception  of 
truth — bright  flashes  of  genius.  He  saw  the  whole 
bearing  of  a  subject  in  a  moment  He  could  not 
indeed  reason  it  out,  fill  in  the  interstices,  but  he 
grasped  truth  instinctively  in  its  native  simplicity. 
His  words  were  like  a  bright  flash  of  lightning  illu- 
minating a  dark  night :  for  a  moment  the  whole 
landscape  was  before  you,  and  you  caught  every 


230  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

lineament."  Great,  however,  as  this  power  unques- 
tionably was,  yet  his  want  of  facility  in  expressing 
his  ideas  placed  Mr.  Stephenson  in  an  unfair  posi- 
tion when  he  was  brought  in  contact  with  men  ac- 
customed from  their  earliest  days  to  clothe  their 
thoughts  in  fluent  and  appropriate  language.  It 
was  not  every  one  whose  mind  was  quick  enough 
to  take  in  the  detail  of  the  landscape  during  the 
moment  it  was  lit  up  by  Mr.  Stephenson's  flashes 
of  genius,  and  the  great  engineer  often  regretted 
bitterly  that  he  was  silenced  by  those  whom  he  felt 
to  be  not  only  inaccurate  in  their  statements,  but 
inferior  to  himself  in  understanding. 

'  It  chanced  that,  during  his  visit  at  Tamworth,  the 
conversation  turned  on  some  subject  on  which  he 
and  Dr.  Buckland,  the  celebrated  Dean  of  West- 
minster, took  different  views.  The  matter  was 
eagerly  discussed.  Stephenson  was  quite  certain 
he  was  right,  but  he  could  not  find  the  words  in 
which  to  define  precisely  what  he  knew  to  be  the 
truth.  The  Dean,  a  perfect  master  of  the  English 
language,  charmed  the  party  by  his  eloquent  and 
lucid  explanation.  Stephenson  was  silenced,  not 
convinced.  He  pondered  over  the  subject  all  the 
evening  ;  he  thought  of  it  as  he  lay  awake  at  night ; 
and  early  in  the  morning  he  was  up  and  out  to  try 
whether  in  the  pure,  fresh  air  he  could  find  words  to 
express  the  truths  so  clearly  grasped  by  his  own 
understanding.  As  he  was  walking  up  and  down 


Sir  William  Follett.  231 

the  lawn,  with  the  puzzled,  anxious  look  peculiar  to 
him  when  his  brain  was  working  out  any  difficult 
problem,  he  was  accosted  by  Sir  William  Follett, 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  speakers  we  have  ever  had 
at  the  English  bar. 

'  "  Why,  Stephenson,  what  is  the  matter  ?  You 
seem  to  be  absorbed  with  no  very  pleasant  calcu- 
lations." 

' "  I  am  thinking  over  that  discussion  with  the 
Dean  last  night,"  replied  Mr.  Stephenson. 

'"Well,  what  of  it?" 

* "  I  was  right,  and  he  was  wrong,"  answered 
Stephenson ;  "  only  I  could  not  tell  them  why  it 
was  so." 

'"Are  you  sure  you  were  right?"  asked  Sir 
William. 

'  "Certain,"  was  the  unflinching  reply. 

' "  Then  state  your  case  to  me ;  make  me  master 
of  your  facts,  and  trust  me  to  argue  the  matter  for 
you." 

'  Mr.  Stephenson  was  only  too  glad  to  close  with 
such  an  offer  ;  and  Follett,  with  that  rare  discrimi- 
nation which  distinguished  him  from  all  other  advo- 
cates, grasped  Mr.  Stephenson's  meaning  at  once, 
seizing  instantly  on  the  leading  points,  and  making 
himself  master  of  the  whole  subject. 

'That  evening,  after  dinner,  Sir  Robert,  at  the 
instigation  of  Sir  William  Follett,  led  the  subject  of 
conversation  back  to  the  discussion  of  the  previous 


232  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

day.  The  Dean,  naturally  enough,  adhered  to  the 
opinions  he  had  originally  expressed.  Sir  William 
espoused  the  opposite  side,  Mr.  Stephenson  mean- 
while remaining  perfectly  silent,  listening  with  in- 
tense interest  to  the  ably  advanced  argument  of  the 
brilliant  orator.  It  was  as  if  a  new  power  were  sud- 
denly placed  within  his  reach.  Ideas  which  had 
been  lying  deep  in  his  own  mind,  but  which  he  had 
been  utterly  unable  to  bring  forth,  were  suddenly 
displayed — clear,  sharp,  sparkling  truths  :  facts  were 
made  available,  proofs  were  rendered  incontrover- 
tible. The  tables  were  turned,  and  the  victor  of 
yesterday  was  the  vanquished  of  to-day. 

' "  Well,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Stephenson  laughingly, 
as  the  Dean  withdrew  from  the  unequal  contest, 
"  of  all  gifts  ever  bestowed  upon  man,  there  is 
nothing,  in  my  opinion,  that  equals  the  gift  ot  the 
gab." 

'  But  although,  when  mixing  in  conversation  with 
men  of  very  cultivated  minds,  Mr.  Stephenson 
might  to  a  certain  degree  be  made  to  feel  the  dis- 
advantages under  which  he  laboured  from  the  want 
of  early  education,  yet,  whenever  it  was  a  mere 
matter  of  business,  his  love  of  truth,  his  vigorous 
understanding,  and  his  clear  perception  of  the  merits 
of  the  case,  compensated  for  the  want  of  mere  men- 
tal training.  In  the  constant  legal  examinations  to 
which  he  was  exposed,  he  was  an  invaluable  witness 
for  his  own  side  :  no  casuistry  puzzled  him,  no  brow- 


Mr.  Stephenson  as  a  Witness.         233 

beating  daunted  him.  Clear-sighted  and  perfectly 
self-possessed,  he  gave  his  evidence  straight  to  the 
point,  though  occasionally  in  language  a  little  more 
vigorous  than  is  usually  heard  in  our  courts  of  law. 

'  On  one  particular  occasion,  it  was  life  or  death 
to  the  opposing  party  to  be  able  to  upset  Mr. 
Stephenson's  evidence.  If  any  one  could  have  ac- 
complished this,  it  would  have  been  Alderson,  the 
counsel  employed  against  him,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  Alderson  went  into  court  willing  enough  to 
carry  out  the  directions  of  his  clients.  But  it  would 
not  do.  There  was  that  about  George  Stephenson 
which  could  not  be  beaten  down,  and  still  less  could 
he  be  cajoled  and  flattered.  Alderson  failed  in  his 
purpose,  but  he  did  full  justice  to  the  character  of 
the  man  who  had  foiled  him ;  and  afterwards,  in 
speaking  of  his  many  noble  qualities,  he  added, 
with  that  readiness  of  illustration  for  which  he  him- 
self was  celebrated  :  "  Yes,  Stephenson's  manner  may 
be  rough,  it  is  but  the  scoriae  ;  all  below  the  surface 
is  true  metal." 

'  It  is  not  surprising  that  Mr.  Stephenson's  advice 
and  assistance  should  have  been  eagerly  sought  for 
on  all  sides ;  but  as  years  passed  on,  he  became 
anxious  to  withdraw  from  the  troubles  and  anxieties 
of  his  arduous  profession.  He  had  set  the  mighty 
engine  in  motion, — astounding  was  the  impetus  it 
had  in  so  short  a  time  attained, — and  although  Mr. 
Stephenson's  vigorous  grasp  might  still  have  retained 


234  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

its  hold,  yet  the  effort  was  too  fatiguing :  he  needed 
rest.  He  could  leave  all  his  great  works  safely  in 
the  hands  of  his  son,  and,  rejoicing  in  Robert's  daily 
increasing  fame,  retire  himself  to  Tapton,  an  estate 
which  he  rented  in  Derbyshire,  and  give  himself  up 
entirely  to  the  pleasures  of  a  country  life.  Again, 
as  when  a  boy,  he  went  birds'-nesting  ;  again  he 
sought  the  hedges  and  hunted  the  woods  for  the 
loveliest  flowers  of  spring,  and  the  last  bright 
berries  of  autumn.  Again  he  roamed  for  hours 
together  over  the  hill-sides,  rejoicing  in  the  pure 
air  and  his  recovered  freedom.  His  wealth  enabling 
him  to  carry  out  all  the  plans  which  had  been  the 
day-dreams  of  his  boyhood,  his  rabbits,  his  chickens, 
his  dogs,  his  horses,  became  the  pets  of  his  later 
life,  and  there  is  no  end  to  the  stones  he  used  to 
tell  of  their  love  for  him,  and  the  wonderful  things 
which  he  could  make  them  do.  One  black  horse 
was  an  especial  favourite ;  and  this  animal,  not 
particularly  tractable  with  any  one  else,  would 
foHow  Mr.  Stephenson  about  like  a  dog,  and  go 
and  come,  and  do  everything  at  his  bidding. 

'Then,  too,  his  gardens  were  something  wonder- 
ful in  the  marvellous  contrivances  they  exhibited 
for  bringing  fruits  and  flowers  to  perfection.  Neither 
time  nor  expense  was  grudged  in  producing  the 
most  perfect  specimens  that  art  and  skill  could  ex- 
hibit. His  pines  were  the  wonder  of  the  country 
round.  By  means  of  hot-water  pipes,  which  gene- 


His  Country  Life.  235 

rated  steam,  Mr.  Stephenson  had  contrived  to  create 
a  fictitious  atmosphere,  very  like  the  oppressive 
climate  of  the  tropics  ;  concluding  that,  if  he  wished 
to  bring  the  fruit  to  perfection,  he  must  provide 
the  means  which  nature  herself  pointed  out  were 
necessary.  The  end  fully  answered  his  expectations. 
Both  in  size,  colour,  and  flavour,  his  pines  were 
unrivalled. 

'  But  though  he  thus  rejoiced  in  being  surrounded 
by  everything  rare  and  costly,  it  was  from  no  love 
of  ostentation ;  it  was  simply  his  genuine  devotion 
to  science,  and  his  desire  of  seeing  everything  that 
was  beautiful  in  nature  cultivated  to  the  extent  of 
its  capabilities.  For  himself,  his  tastes  were  as 
simple  and  inexpensive  as  in  the  days  when  he 
could  enjoy  the  dinner  Spot  brought  him  to  the 
pit  He  might  like  and  be  thankful  for  the  good 
things  that  surrounded  him,  but  they  made  no  real 
portion  of  his  daily  enjoyment,  and  he  was  just  as 
contented  with  the  humblest  fare  or  the  poorest 
accommodation  as  with  a  princely  feast  and  a  bed 
of  down. 

'  Another  of  the  great  interests  of  the  last  years 
of  his  life,  was  in  superintending  the  formation  of  the 
Clay  Cross  coal-pits.  They  were  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  Tapton ;  and  he  rented  all  the 
surrounding  ground,  that  they  might  be  under  his 
own  immediate  care  and  supervision.  Endless  were 
the  ingenious  contrivances  which  he  delighted  to 


236  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

invent  for  decreasing  the  labour  of  the  miners,  and 
facilitating  the  excavation  and  raising  of  the  coals  ; 
and  he  would  watch  their  operation  and  success  with 
a  delight  as  fresh  as  that  which  he  could  have  felt  in 
his  young  and  vigorous  manhood.  Indeed,  this  was 
one  of  Mr.  Stephenson's  most  remarkable  charac- 
teristics. The  sense  of  power  never  seemed  to  leave 
him  :  it  pervaded  everything  he  said  and  did.  He 
was  a  strong  man  glorying  in  his  strength,  yet  with 
an  overflowing  kindliness  of  nature,  which  made  him 
tender  to  all  things  living  which  needed  his  care. 
An  action  that  he  thought  unfair  or  wrong  was  in- 
tolerable to  him.  It  did  not  signify  whether  it  was 
done  to  himself  or  to  others  ;  it  was  the  act  itself 
which  gave  him  displeasure.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  going  on  a  journey.  Railroads  were  not  then  so 
plentiful  as  they  are  now,  and  he  was  travelling  by 
coach.  The  box-seat  had  been  taken  by  a  gentle- 
man, and  Mr.  Stephenson  had  therefore  secured  the 
one  immediately  behind.  For  some  cause  the  gentle- 
man had  got  down  from  the  box,  leaving  his  coat  to 
secure  his  seat.  Before  he  returned,  a  young  and 
fashionably-dressed  man  lounged  out  of  the  hotel 
before  which  the  coach  was  standing,  and,  coolly 
removing  the  gentleman's  coat,  appropriated  the 
box-seat  for  himself.  In  a  short  time  the  owner 
returned,  and  claimed  his  own. 

' "  I  have  taken  my  place,"  was  the  only  reply, 
uttered  in  the  tone  of  a  man  who  thought  himself 


His  Love  of  Justice.  237 

quite  above  entering  into  any  argument  on  the 
subject. 

'"But,  sir,"  rejoined  the  other,  "that  place  was 
mine  already." 

' "  If  you  wished  for  it,  you  should  have  kept  it 
better." 

'  Hitherto  Mr.  Stephenson  had  been  a  silent  ob- 
server of  the  scene ;  but  finding  that  the  gentle- 
man, anxious  to  avoid  an  unpleasant  altercation,  was 
likely  to  cede  his  right,  he  said  with  the  cool  tone  of 
authority  he  knew  so  well  how  to  assume : 

' "  Young  man,  you  would  not  have  said  that  to  me." 

'"Indeed!  you  think  not?"  was  the  supercilious 
reply.  "  I  rather  think  I  should." 

'  "  And  if  you  had,"  returned  Mr.  Stephenson,  "  I 
should  just  have  pitched  you  into  the  middle  of  the 
road  there ;  and,  what  is  more,  if  you  do  not  get 
down  from  that  seat  at  once,  I  will  do  it  now." 

'The  intruder  turned  round  to  see  who  ventured 
thus  to  address  him  ;  but  there  must  have  been 
something  in  his  monitor's  look  that  showed  he  was 
not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with.  Discretion  was  evi- 
dently in  this  case  the  better  part  of  valour.  The 
young  upstart  made  a  precipitate  retreat,  and,  with 
many  thanks  to  his  vigorous  champion,  the  rightful 
owner  remounted  the  box/ 

'  What  a  plucky  fellow  he  was ! '  exclaimed 
Charles,  laughing.  'How  I  should  have  liked  to 
have  known  him,  Aunt  Helen  ! ' 


238  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

1  Ah !  any  one  might  well  wish  to  have  been  his 
friend/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville.  'Such  men,  I  am 
afraid,  are  fast  dying  out  amongst  us.  The  refine- 
ments of  conventional  life  are  sadly  injurious  to  the 
development  of  great  and  original  genius.  They 
bring  us  all  too  much  to  a  level  of  mediocrity.  How- 
ever, it  is  great  occasions  that  call  forth  great  men  ; 
and  we  must  not  expect  that  we  are  all  to  possess 
the  vigour  and  power  of  George  Stephenson.  We 
ought,  perhaps,  rather  to  be  satisfied  that  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  father's  genius  has  descended  to  the 
son,  and  that  England  may  still  command  his  serr 
vices.' l 

'  How  Mr.  Stephenson  must  have  delighted  in  his 
son's  success,  mamma!'  said  Arthur.  'When  he 
remembered  all  his  care  of  him  when  he  was  a  little 
boy,  and  all  that  he  had  given  up  that  Robert  might 
be  well  educated,  what  a  pleasure  it  must  have  been 
to  see  him  such  a  great,  good  man !' 

'  It  must  indeed  have  been  an  unspeakable  happi- 
ness ;  and  I  feel  quite  thankful  that  I  have  been 
permitted  to  witness  such  pure,  unselfish  love  as  that 
of  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  for  his  father.  It  is  quite 
refreshing  to  feel  that  it  can  exist  amidst  the  jarring 
interests  of  this  cold,  selfish  world.  I  remember 
how  struck  I  was,  years  ago,  by  Mr.  Robert  Ste- 
phenson's  evident  vexation  at  some  remark  which, 

1  Since  this  was  written,  he  too  has  been  called  hence.  Mr.  Robert 
Stephenson  died  on  the  I2th  of  October  1859. 


His  Courage  and  Presence  of  Mind.     239 

by  doing  justice  to  one  of  his  own  great  works, 
seemed  to  place  his  genius  on  a  level  with  his  father's. 

* "  Those  who  say  so,"  he  exclaimed,  "  do  not 
know  my  father.  Do  not  talk  of  my  mind  by 
comparison  with  his.  His  was  one  of  gigantic 
grasp — equal  in  power  to  Watt.  My  only  object 
through  life  has  been  to  add  to  my  father's  fame  ; 
and  the  only  honour  that  I  ask  for  is,  that  my  name 
may  go  down  to  posterity  with  that  of  George 
Stephenson." 

'  He  need  not  fear  but  that  the  wish  will  be 
gratified,  and,  to  my  mind,  no  coronet  would  add 
nobility  to  the  title.  With  the  strong  love  which 
bound  them  to  each  other,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
some  of  the  happiest  days  of  Mr.  Stephenson's 
later  life  were  spent  in  his  son's  house  in  London. 
It  was  during  one  of  these  visits  that  a  circum- 
stance occurred,  curiously  illustrative  of  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson's courage  and  presence  of  mind. 

'  One  night,  after  the  family  had  retired  to  rest, 
Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  was  suddenly  aroused  from 
his  sleep  by  the  sound  of  crashing  glass.  Hastily 
rising,  he  saw  that  the  windows  of  his  room  had 
been  burst  in  by  the  heat  of  flames,  which  were 
now  running  quickly  up  the  wood-work.  To  be  up 
and  down,  and  to  awake  the  household,  was  the 
work  of  a  few  minutes ;  and  in  a  state  of  curious 
dishabille  and  very  great  alarm  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  family  met  in  the  hall.  "Are  you  all 


240  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

here  ? "  was  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson's  first  inquiry. 
Various  names  answered  to  their  call,  but  there  was 
one  well-known  voice  which  was  not  heard. 

1 "  My  father  is  not  here  !  Where  is  my  father  ?" 
exclaimed  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson. 

'At  this  moment  a  door  opened  at  the  head  of 
the  staircase,  and  Mr.  Stephenson  was  seen  calmly 
walking  out  of  his  bedroom,  with  his  carpet-bag  in 
his  hand.  He  had  got  up  at  the  first  alarm,  dressed 
himself,  packed  his  bag,  and  now,  in  the  most  lei- 
surely way,  was  preparing  to  join  the  party  in  the 
hall.  The  son  trembled  for  his  safety,  for  already 
the  flames  seemed  as  if  they  must  have  cut  off  his 
descent ;  but  Mr.  Stephenson  had  lost  none  of  his 
nerve  since  the  day  he  had  descended  into  the 
Killingworth  coal-pit.  He  calmly  laid  his  hand  on 
the  banister,  measuring  the  distance  between  the 
flames  and  himself,  and  then  walked  down  the 
stairs  with  perfect  composure,  saying,  as  he  placed 
his  carpet-bag  on  the  hall  table :  "  There,  now  I  am 
ready  to  help  others,  or  be  off  myself." 

'  It  was  this  perfect  self-possession  which  inspired 
every  one  with  such  extraordinary  confidence  in  Mr. 
Stephenson.  All  say  alike,  that  you  could  not  be 
with  him,  or  hear  him  speak,  without  feeling  the 
most  implicit  reliance  on  the  innate  power  and  rec- 
titude of  this  wonderful  man.  And  yet  there  was 
nothing  painful  in  this  sense  of  his  superiority,  tem- 
pered as  it  was  by  the  kindliness  of  his  nature,  ready 


Testimony  to  his  Worth.  241 

to  enter  into  the  pursuits  and  interests  of  those  with 
whom  he  lived.  No  wonder  that  those  who  knew 
him  well,  loved  him  so  devotedly.  One  who  had 
ample  opportunities  of  judging  of  the  truth  of  what 
I  have  just  said,  once  wrote  to  me:  "Those  were, 
indeed,  delightful  evenings  spent  in  his  society.  It 
was  impossible  to  know  him  personally,  without 
being  impressed  with  his  rare  combination  of  ad- 
mirable qualities.  Marvellous,  indeed,  it  was  to 
see  and  listen  to  him,  and  reflect  on  what  his  early 
life  had  been.  The  light  of  genius  shone  perpetu- 
ally around  him,  bursting  in  startling  flashes  from 
his  conversation,  lending  a  beauty  and  refinement 
to  his  manly  countenance,  which  the  natural  sym- 
metry of  his  features  would  alone  have  failed  to 
produce.  His  figure  was  erect  and  dignified,  and 
the  moment  he  entered  a  room,  you  felt  at  once 
you  were  in  the  presence  of  a  man  of  genius." 

'  No  wonder  that,  when  such  a  man  was  suddenly 
withdrawn  by  death,  a  blank  was  felt  in  those  social 
circles  of  which  he  had  been  the  charm  and  delight, 
which  those  who  mourned  his  loss  were  well  aware 
could  never  be  filled  up  again  on  earth/ 

'Did  he  die  quite  suddenly  then,  mamma?'  ex- 
claimed Arthur. 

'Very  unexpectedly  to  those  about  him,  though 
it  is  possible  that  the  seeds  of  disease  had  long  been 
sown.  In  September  1845  he  had  been  requested 
to  pay  a  visit  to  Spain,  that  he  might  give  his 

Q 


242  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

opinion  upon  a  railroad  which  was  in  contempla- 
tion between  Madrid  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay. 
Always  fond  of  travelling,  seeing  new  places,  and 
studying  the  character  of  new  people,  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson,  although  overwhelmed  at  the  time  by  a 
multiplicity  of  occupations,  unfortunately  accepted 
the  invitation ;  and,  in  company  with  some  inti- 
mate friends,  started  at  once  for  the  Continent, 
travelling  through  France,  that  he  might  have  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  its  southern  provinces.  He 
had  but  six  weeks  to  accomplish  everything  that 
he  had  undertaken  to  do,  and  on  his  arrival  in 
Spain  he  found  considerably  more  work  awaiting 
him  than  he  had  been  led  to  expect 

'  To  slur  over  his  work,  was  not  in  Mr.  Stephen- 
son's  nature.  As  of  old,  he  would  see  to  everything 
himself.  This,  combined  with  the  fatigue  of  survey- 
ing such  an  impracticable  line  as  that  from  Madrid 
to  the  coast,  was  more  than  his  strength  could  bear. 
He  felt  he  was  knocking  up  fast,  but  still,  with  his 
indomitable  energy,  he  would  persist  in  carrying  out 
that  which  he  had  undertaken  to  do.  It  was  in  vain 
that  his  friends  entreated  him  to  moderate  his  labours. 
He  had  the  work  to  do,  and  it  must  be  done.  The 
consequences  which  had  been  foreseen,  only  too 
surely  followed.  Still,  even  then,  if  he  would  have 
consented  to  lie  by  for  a  time,  it  is  possible  that 
the  mischief  might  have  been  averted  ;  but  he  knew 
that  his  presence  in  England  on  a  particular  day 


Illness  of  Mr.  Slephenson.  243 

was  important  to  others  as  well  as  to  himself:  no 
persuasions,  therefore,  could  induce  him  to  delay 
his  return.  By  a  strong  exercise  of  will,  he  kept 
down  the  malady ;  but,  alas !  before  he  reached 
England,  it  was  abundantly  clear  that,  struggle 
against  it  as  he  would,  he  could  no  longer  conceal 
from  himself  or  others  that  he  was  alarmingly  ill. 
Hardly  had  he  gone  on  board  the  packet  which 
was  to  convey  him  from  Havre  to  Southampton, 
when  a  violent  accession  of  pleurisy  set  in.  If 
it  had  not  been  for  his  still  wonderful  strength 
of  constitution,  combined  with  the  skill  and  un- 
ceasing watchfulness  of  those  who  nursed  him,  he 
must  have  sunk  under  the  violence  of  the  disease. 
Happily  his  life  was  saved  for  the  time  ;  but 
although  he  thus  apparently  rallied,  his  consti- 
tution had  received  a  shock  from  which  it  never 
afterwards  fully  recovered.  Of  this  truth,  how- 
ever, he  could  not  be  himself  persuaded.  Never 
having  been  accustomed  from  his  boyhood  to  any- 
thing like  restraint,  the  care  which  was  now  really 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  his  health  was 
intolerable  to  him/ 

'  Ah !  Aunt  Helen/  interrupted  Charles,  laugh- 
ingly, '  he  ought  to  have  had  a  wife,  ought  he  not  ? 
There  is  nothing  like  a  wife  for  keeping  a  man  in 
order/ 

*  Unfortunately/  replied  Mrs.  Grenville,  '  even 
that  infallible  prescription  failed  in  Mr.  Stephen- 


244  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

son's  case.  He  had  been  twice  married  since  the 
death  of  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson's  mother  ;  and 
such  care  and  affection  as  a  wife  could  give  him 
were  happily  his  own.  But  I  am  afraid  he  was  not 
a  man  who  would  permit  himself  to  be  kept  in  order 
for  his  own  good.  He  piqued  himself  upon  his 
wonderful  strength  of  constitution  ;  he  gloried  in 
his  power  of  bearing  fatigue,  and  being  able  to 
perform  feats  of  athleticism  worthy  of  the  young 
and  vigorous  days  of  his  youth.  It  was  not,  there- 
fore, surprising  that  he  should  not  like  to  live  by 
rule,  and  give  up  his  habits  of  independence  for 
the  strict  regimen  necessary  for  an  invalid.  It  was 
no  use  worrying  him  ;  he  never  could  be  made  to 
think  of  himself ;  his  friends  could  only  look  on 
anxiously  and  watch  the  results.  It  so  chanced 
that  in  the  autumn  of  1848  he  was  superintend- 
ing an  alteration  in  his  conservatories  at  Tapton. 
Excessively  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  works, 
he  used  to  go  from  hothouse  to  hothouse,  without 
a  thought  of  the  danger  to  which  he  was  expos- 
ing himself  by  these  sudden  and  violent  changes 
of  temperature.  A  sudden  chill  was  the  conse- 
quence :  violent  inflammation  set  in  rapidly.  He 
had  not  strength  to  bear  up  against  the  necessary 
remedies,  and,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  to  the  inex- 
pressible grief  of  all  who  loved  and  honoured  him, 
on  the  1 2th  of  August  1848  he  quietly  breathed 
his  last. 


His  Death.  245 

'  Nor  was  sorrow  for  his  death  confined  to  his  own 
immediate  circle  of  friends.  England  felt  that  she 
had  lost  one  of  her  greatest  men,  and  long  will  the 
recollection  of  his  sterling  worth  be  held  in  honour 
amongst  her  sons.  Yes,  so  long  as  Englishmen 
estimate  at  their  true  value,  energy  which  opposition 
could  not  quell ;  perseverance,  proof  against  all  diffi- 
culties ;  clear,  good,  common  sense,  content  to  choose 
the  happy  medium  ;  and  calm  judgment,  unswayed 
by  vanity,  unblinded  by  self-interest. 

'  High,  however,  as  is  the  position  which  has  been 
awarded  with  one  consent  to  George  Stephenson, — 
deep  as  is  our  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  man  who  by 
his  genius  brought  about  the  greatest  social  change 
the  world  has  ever  witnessed, — still,  perhaps,  we 
hardly  estimate  aright  the  full  value  of  what  he  has 
done  for  us.  We  have  forgotten,  so  to  speak,  what 
was  the  state  of  English  society  before  his  days. 
We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  comforts  and  conveni- 
ences brought  to  our  homes  through  the  agency  of 
steam,  that  really  we  have  ceased  to  think  about 
them,  and  take  them  as  a  mere  matter  of  course. 
Think,  for  instance,  of  the  incalculable  blessing 
of  our  post  office  system.  It  is  all  very  well  to 
talk  of  the  penny  post,  and  of  the  immense  ad- 
vantages we  derive  from  it ;  but  where  would  have 
been  the  penny  post  without  the  locomotive  ?  Mr. 
Rowland  Hill  might  have  planned  in  vain,  had 
not  his  clever  schemes  been  made  practicable, — 


246  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

thanks   to   the   inventions   of  George   and   Robert 
Stephenson. 

'In  the  days  of  the  mail  coaches  between  four 
and  five  tons  of  letters  were  sent  away  daily  to  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom  from  the  General  Post  Office. 
On  the  i6th  of  May  1856  Mr.  Robert  Stephen- 
son  ascertained,  for  a  particular  purpose,  that  the 
number  sent  by  the  mail  train  from  the  Euston 
Square  station  alone,  amounted  to  one  hundred 
tons.  And  that  is  two  years  ago.  Since  then 
the  increase  of  the  post  office  business  has  been 
immense. 

'  But  this  is  only  to  mention  one  instance  of  the 
increased  comforts  of  our  daily  life  for  which  we 
are  indebted  to  our  great  engineer.  In  so  many 
ways  the  blessings  brought  about  through  his  in- 
strumentality are  indirect,  though  not  the  less  real. 
With  increased  facility  for  travelling,  inhabitants  of 
the  most  distant  countries  are  gradually  becoming 
known  to  each  other,  and  from  this  intercourse  good 
must  eventually  ensue.  Prejudices  must  be  lessened, 
antipathies  overcome,  and  so  the  way  be  smoothed 
for  the  more  general  reception  of  the  gospel  truth, 
destined  to  be  preached  from  pole  to  pole,  that  the 
religion  of  the  Saviour  can  alone  be  productive  of 
"  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  man."  ' 

'  Oh  mamma  !'  said  Arthur  with  a  sigh,  '  I  wish  I 
could  be  as  great  a  man  as  Mr.  Stephenson.' 

That,  my  love,  is  impossible.     You  have  neither 


Conclusion.  247 

his  talents,  nor  his  strength  of  constitution.  Better 
wish  for  that  which  is  more  practicable,  and  seek  for 
that  to  which  you  may  attain.  Imitate  Mr.  Stephen- 
son  in  his  kindliness,  his  truthfulness,  his  self-denial, 
his  perseverance,  his  readiness  at  all  times  to  pro- 
mote the  good  of  others  :  follow  him  in  these  as 
closely  as  you  will.  You  would  be  turning  his  ex- 
ample to  very  bad  account,  if  it  only  made  you 
discontented  with  your  <own  talents  and  position. 
God  has  given  to  each  4iis  allotted  work ;  only  let 
that  be  done  in  a  right  spirit,  with  earnestness  of 
purpose  and  singleness  of  heart,  and  you  may  rest 
assured  that  your  end  will  be  attained, — not  pos- 
sibly in  this  world's  fame  and  applause,  but  in 
the  sure  and  certain  inheritance  laid  up  for  you 
in  heaven :  only  remember  you  must  do  your  own 
work  thoroughly,  without  repining  that  you  are  not 
called  to  do  the  work  of  another.  I  do  not  deny 
that  earthly  fame  is  very  pleasant,  and  that  it  is 
mast  natural  to  desire  to  win  it.  But  surely,  better 
still  it  is  to  know  that  your  name  is  written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life.  The  world's  prizes  are  but 
for  very  few, — difficult  to  win,  #nd  often  hard  to 
wear.  But  even  could  you  call  them  yours,  and 
could  the  whole  universe  ring  with  your  praises, 
how  would  the  plaudits  die  away  before  the 
sound  of  those  few  words :  "  Well  done,  thou  good 
and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
thy  Lord  !  " 


248  The  Triumphs  of  Steam. 

'We  cannot  all  be  George  Stephensons,  but  we 
can  all  do  what  he  did, — work  out  our  given  task 
with  untiring  energy  and  zeal ;  only  let  us  make 
sure  that  we  do  it  unto  the  Lord,  and  then  we 
need  not  fear  that  we  shall  ever  come  short  of  our 
reward.' 


MURRAY  AND  GIBB,  EDINBURGH, 
FVINTERS  TO  HER  MAJESTY'S  STATIONERY  OFFICE. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50m-12,'64(F772s4)458 


390785 

Burrows,   E. 

The  triumphs  of 
steam. 


TJ139 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


